Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle two lawsuits brought by the state of Texas over allegations that the technology company violated residents’ data privacy rights.
The lawsuits, filed in 2022 by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, accused Google of breaching state consumer protection laws by unlawfully collecting and using biometric data, tracking users’ locations despite their efforts to disable tracking, and misleading users about the privacy features of its Incognito browsing mode.
“This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust,” said Paxton 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 settlement follows a $1.4 billion agreement in 2024 between Texas and Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, over similar biometric privacy concerns.
Google, which did not admit any wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement, said the claims related to its Chrome browser’s Incognito mode, location history features on Google Maps, and biometric data collected via services such as Google Photos and Google Assistant.
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” said José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson. “We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.”
According to the Texas attorney general’s office, the settlement does not require Google to implement any further product changes. The state has not disclosed how the funds from the agreement will be allocated.
The case was brought under Texas laws governing deceptive trade practices and biometric data use. State law requires companies to obtain explicit consent before collecting biometric identifiers such as facial geometry or voiceprints and allows for civil penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.
The lawsuits focused on products including Google Photos, which uses facial recognition to organise images; Google Nest, which can identify visitors through smart camera systems; and Google Assistant, which stores voice profiles of users.
Privacy regulation remains a point of contention between major technology firms and state governments in the United States, particularly in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation.
