In a landmark move, Google has agreed to pay a $1.375 billion fine to the state of Texas to settle allegations that it violated users’ privacy rights by collecting personal data without consent.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the settlement on Friday, which resolves two lawsuits accusing Google of unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data regarding geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric data, such as voiceprints and facial geometry.
The lawsuits, originally filed in 2022, claimed that Google continued to track users’ whereabouts even when the Location History setting was disabled, and that the company misled users about the privacy protections of its Incognito mode.
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law. 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,” said Attorney General Paxton in a statement on Friday.
“This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust. I will always protect Texans by stopping Big Tech’s attempts to make a profit by selling away our rights and freedoms.”
Google’s Response
While Google did not admit to any wrongdoing, the company stated that the settlement addresses “old claims” and that it has since updated its product policies.
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement. “We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.”
This settlement is the largest ever secured by a single state against Google for data privacy concerns, surpassing a previous $93 million agreement. It follows a similar case where Meta Platforms paid a $1.4 billion fine to settle allegations that it illegally collected facial recognition data of millions of users without their consent.
The financial details of how the settlement funds of $1.375 billion will be allocated have not been disclosed, and the agreement does not require Google to modify its products. This case highlights a growing wave of regulatory scrutiny facing tech companies’ data practices, as authorities ramp up efforts to address both privacy violations and antitrust concerns.
