Google has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle claims that the company collected users' data without their consent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday. The settlement resolves allegations that Google unlawfully tracked users' locations, recorded private searches, and collected biometric identifiers such as voiceprints and facial geometry through services including Google Assistant and Google Photos. Paxton described the resolution as a warning to major technology companies. "In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law," he said in a statement. "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 claims, originally filed in 2022, centered on Google's data practices involving geolocation tracking, incognito browsing, and the use of biometric information without user consent. Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the agreement addresses "old claims," noting that many of the company's policies in question had already been revised. "We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services," he said. Castañeda added that the settlement does not require Google to make any further product changes. Paxton said the $1.4 billion payout is the largest ever obtained by a U.S. state in a data privacy case against Google. The deal follows a series of other major settlements Texas has reached with the tech company, including a $700 million settlement in December 2023 over allegations related to Google's Android app store and anti-competitive behavior. In a parallel case, Meta has also agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over accusations that it collected and used biometric data from users without permission. — Agencies
