Google will pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle data privacy violation lawsuits
Google has agreed to pay the state of Texas $1.375 billion to settle two lawsuits accusing the company of violating its residents' data privacy rights. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Google in 2022, alleging that it collected users' biometrics without their express consent and continued to track their location even after they've disabled the feature. In the Attorney General's website, his office said that it's the biggest amount Google has agreed to pay to resolve similar lawsuits for data privacy violations. "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," Paxton said.
When the Attorney General filed the lawsuit, Google told Engadget that Paxton mischaracterized its products. One of Paxton's complaints, for instance, was that Google used features in Photos and Assistant to scan people's faces. The company's spokesperson told us that Photos only scanned faces so that users can group images of the same person for organization. Google representative Jose Castaneda told CNBC that the company is not admitting any wrongdoing or liability by agreeing to settle. He said Google doesn't have to make any changes to its products as part of the agreement. "This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed," he said.
In July 2024, Meta also agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle a similar lawsuit that accused the company of collecting its residents' facial recognition data. Paxton said Meta violated the state's Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act "billions of times" by tagging photos and videos without users' consent. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-will-pay-texas-14-billion-to-settle-data-privacy-violation-lawsuits-120044844.html?src=rss
Rating
Innovation
Pricing
Technology
Usability
We have discovered similar tools to what you are looking for. Check out our suggestions for similar AI tools.
Google I/O 2025 recap: AI updates, Android XR, Google Beam and everything e
<p>Today is one of the most important days on the tech calendar as Google kicked off its I/O developer event with its annual keynote. As ever, the company had many updates for a wide range of pr [...]
Get four Apple AirTags for $70, plus the rest of this week's best tech deal
<p>It's time for another edition of Engadget's weekly deals roundup where we bring together worthwhile tech deals from the past week. If you're in the market for home entertainment gear, you're [...]