Google to Compensate $1.4 Billion to Texas in Significant Privacy Agreement
Google has consented to pay $1.4 billion to resolve two lawsuits filed by the state of Texas, which charged the tech giant with infringing upon users’ privacy rights.
The lawsuits contended that Google gathered biometric information—like facial geometry and voiceprints—without obtaining explicit consent from users, and persistently tracked their locations even when location tracking was disabled.
“In Texas, Big Tech is not exempt from the law,” declared Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a proclamation. “For years, Google covertly monitored individuals’ movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I stood up and succeeded.”
Paxton referred to the $1.375 billion settlement as a “significant victory for the privacy of Texans,” stressing that it conveys a definitive message to tech firms: “They will face consequences for betraying our trust.” He added, “I will always safeguard Texans by halting Big Tech’s endeavors to profit from selling our rights and freedoms.”
The lawsuits centered on Google’s handling of location data in its Maps application and facial recognition functionalities in Google Photos. Texas asserted that Google utilized facial scanning in Photos without appropriate consent. Nonetheless, Google maintained that the facial recognition feature was employed solely to assist users in managing their photo libraries.
In a statement to CNBC, Google representative Jose Castaneda remarked, “This resolves a series of longstanding claims, many of which have already been settled independently, regarding product policies we have long since amended. We are happy to move forward from this and will keep enhancing our privacy safeguards within our services.”
Although Google did not concede to any wrongdoing, the settlement represents one of the largest privacy-related financial disbursements in U.S. history and illustrates the increasing scrutiny of how technology companies manage user data.