Google will pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle allegations that it unlawfully collected and exploited users' personal data, including biometric identifiers and geolocation information, state Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday. The settlement marks the largest ever secured by a U.S. state against the tech giant for privacy violations.
"In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law," Paxton stated. "For years, Google secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won."
The agreement resolves a 2022 lawsuit in which Texas alleged Google had violated the state's consumer protection laws by harvesting data without adequate disclosure or consent. According to the complaint, the company collected millions of biometric identifiers via services such as Google Photos and Google Assistant, and misled users about data collected during "Incognito" browser sessions.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the deal closes the book on a number of "old claims," adding that many of the practices at issue have already been addressed. "We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services," Castañeda said. He noted that the settlement does not mandate any new product changes.
Texas officials have aggressively pursued major technology companies over data privacy and antitrust concerns. Friday's settlement comes less than five months after Google agreed to pay $700 million to Texas and other states in December 2023 to resolve allegations that it had stifled competition in the Android app marketplace.
In a parallel development, Meta has also agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle a separate lawsuit alleging the company used biometric data-such as facial recognition-without user consent. That case mirrors some of the legal issues raised in the suit against Google, underscoring Texas's heightened focus on regulating digital privacy in the absence of federal legislation.
