The Texas attorney general is suing Facebook parent Meta claiming it is breaching laws relating to biometric data

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton says the U.S-based tech company has unlawfully collected biometric data of the people of Texas to use for commercial purposes, without their informed consent.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in state district court, claimed Meta has been “storing millions of biometric identifiers” — identified as retina or iris scans, voiceprints, or a record of hand and face geometry — as well as data contained in photos and videos people upload to its services, including Facebook and Instagram.

Mr Paxton has been going up against America’s biggest tech giants for some time. He earlier launched an investigation of Twitter over its ban of former President Donald Trump.

He has also filed several lawsuits against search engine, Google.

The filing of the lawsuit coincided with the first day of early voting in a primary election in Texas, where Paxton faces several GOP challengers in the wake of his top deputies reporting him to the FBI for alleged corruption.

What law has Meta broken?

Under a law imposed in the US state of Texas, companies must obtain “informed consent” from people to use their biometric data.

This means people have to be informed prior to their data being captured and it can only be done if they agree to it.

Such data also cannot be disclosed for anyone else, although there are some exceptions, such as law enforcement subpoenas.

Meta’s response:

In a statement, Meta, which is based at 1 Hacker Way, Melo Park, California, called the lawsuit “without merit”.

Meta stated back in November that it was shutting down its facial recognition programme and deleting its data.