Google has agreed to a $1.375 billion settlement with the state of Texas over a 2022 lawsuit that alleged it had been amassing and utilizing biometric information of tens of millions of Texans with out correctly buying their consent.
The workplace of Texas Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton introduced the settlement settlement, which known as it a ‘historic win’ for the state, noting that it is the highest restoration nationwide in opposition to Google.
“Up to now, no state has attained a settlement in opposition to Google for related data-privacy violations larger than $93 million,” commented Paxton’s workplace within the announcement.
“Even a multistate coalition that included forty states secured simply $391 million—virtually a billion {dollars} lower than Texas’s restoration.”
Google was accused of violating the state’s biometric privateness act, which dictates that corporations should clearly inform customers and get their consent earlier than amassing biometric identifiers resembling fingerprints, voice, hand scans, and retina/iris scans.
In line with the lawsuit, since at the least 2015, Google has unlawfully (with out consent) collected Texans’ face and voice scans to empower its focused promoting enterprise.
Moreover, Google was accused of persistently monitoring Texans who used its services and products, always logging their location and searches made whereas in Chrome’s incognito mode.
Paxton underlined that no one is above the legislation, and Massive Tech won’t be left unchecked.
A Google spokesperson informed BleepingComputer that this settlement covers two circumstances and three claims, all of which have already resulted in product/process adjustments within the tech big’s services and products, so no additional motion is required.
“This settles a raft of previous claims, a lot of which have already been resolved elsewhere, regarding product insurance policies we’ve lengthy since modified,” stated Google spokesperson José Castañeda.
“We’re happy to place them behind us, and we’ll proceed to construct sturdy privateness controls into our providers.”
Google additionally famous that the settlement will not be an admission of wrongdoing or legal responsibility.
Below AG Paxton, Texas has had profitable motions in opposition to tech giants in recent times.
A highlighted instance is a $1.4 billion July 2024 settlement with Meta for unlawfully amassing and utilizing facial recognition information.
In January 2025, Paxton filed a lawsuit focusing on automotive insurer Allstate and its subsidiary Arity for unlawfully amassing, utilizing, and re-selling driving information from over 45 million Individuals, violating TDPSA, the Knowledge Dealer Regulation, and the Texas Insurance coverage Code.
Based mostly on an evaluation of 14M malicious actions, uncover the highest 10 MITRE ATT&CK strategies behind 93% of assaults and learn how to defend in opposition to them.
