Google has reached an agreement to pay the state of Texas $1.375 billion to resolve two lawsuits alleging that the company tracked users’ personal location, incognito searches, and voice and facial data without consent. These lawsuits were initiated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022. Last year, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, also settled a facial recognition-related lawsuit brought by Paxton for a similar amount.
Paxton emphasized that “In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law.” He accused Google of secretly tracking individuals’ movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through its products and services. Paxton’s office noted that this settlement represents the highest recovery against Google for any attorney general’s enforcement of state privacy laws.
A Google spokesperson stated that the settlement does not imply any admission of wrongdoing or liability and does not require changes to its products. The spokesperson mentioned, “This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed.”
Previously, Google achieved some legal victories, such as an appeals court ruling that the company lacked sufficient ties to Texas to face a lawsuit there. Initially, Google responded to Paxton’s allegations by stating that he misrepresented its products. For instance, Google Photos scanned users’ faces only to group similar photos together and did not use the feature for advertising purposes.
This settlement follows significant antitrust rulings against Google for maintaining monopolies in web search and advertising technology, with potential remedies including the divestment of Chrome. Google has announced plans to appeal these rulings.
— new from TechCrunch