Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed to a record $1.4 billion settlement with Texas on Tuesday, over allegations that it had illegally collected facial recognition information on millions of users in violation of state law.

Meta violated Texas state privacy laws by automatically tagging users’ faces on its site, according to a suit filed in 2022. The agreement is the largest privacy settlement by a U.S. state, said Texas’ attorney general, Ken Paxton.

“This historic settlement demonstrates our commitment to standing up to the world’s biggest technology companies and holding them accountable for breaking the law and violating Texans’ privacy rights,” Mr. Paxton said in a statement. The suit covered the collection of data from millions of state residents. “Any abuse of Texans’ sensitive data will be met with the full force of the law,” he added.

Meta and other tech giants have come under intense scrutiny by regulators and consumers in recent years for abuses of privacy. States have become increasingly aggressive in adopting and enforcing privacy and other tech laws, particularly in the absence of a federal privacy law. Texas, Illinois and Washington have biometric privacy laws that curb the collection of facial, voice and other biometric data.

Meta previously paid Illinois $550 million in 2020 to settle a similar suit over facial recognition. The company is facing more than a dozen lawsuits by the attorneys general of 45 states, and the District of Columbia accusing Meta of unfairly ensnaring teenagers and children on Instagram and Facebook while deceiving the public about the hazards.

Texas’ law, called Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier, requires companies to ask permission before using features like facial or voice recognition technologies. The law allows the state to impose damages of up to $25,000 per violation.