Google has agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle allegations that it collected users’ data without consent. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the settlement on Friday, emphasizing that it sends a strong message to tech companies about respecting privacy rights.
“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 settlement addresses multiple claims made by Texas in 2022 concerning Google’s practices related to geolocation tracking, Incognito browsing, and biometric data collection. The state accused Google of unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data without proper authorization.
Among the allegations, Paxton claimed that Google collected millions of biometric identifiers—including voiceprints and facial geometry records—through services like Google Photos and Google Assistant.
Responding to the settlement, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the agreement resolves a number of “old claims,” noting that many of the product policies in question have already been updated. “We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services,” Castaneda remarked. The company also clarified that the settlement does not require changes to its current products or services.
The $1.4 billion payout is reportedly the largest ever received by a U.S. state in a data privacy settlement with Google. Details on how Texas plans to utilize the funds have not been disclosed.
This agreement follows a previous settlement in December 2022, where Google agreed to pay $700 million to address allegations that it had stifled competition in its Android app store. Additionally, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, agreed last year to pay $1.4 billion to settle a similar lawsuit with Texas over claims of unlawful biometric data collection.
