Google to Compensate Texas Over $1.3 Billion for User Privacy Violations

Google is set to pay $1.375 billion to the state of Texas as part of a settlement to resolve lawsuits regarding user privacy violations. In 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed two lawsuits against the tech giant.

The allegations against Google included «illegal tracking and collection of personal data related to users’ geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric information.» Prior to this, no U.S. state had achieved settlements with Google for similar data privacy violations amounting to more than $93 million.

Paxton claimed that Google had gathered millions of biometric identifiers, such as voiceprints, through services and products like Google Photos and Google Assistant.

The settlement will address numerous longstanding claims concerning product policies that Google has since altered, according to company representative Jose Castaneda. He further mentioned that the company will continue to «integrate robust privacy controls» into its services.

In 2022, Google agreed to pay over $391 million to 40 U.S. states following accusations of tracking users without their consent. The previous year, Meta* settled with Texas over claims related to its facial recognition policies, which cost the corporation $1.4 billion.

Over the last two years, Texas has secured two settlements with Google, including a $700 million agreement in which the company also made several other concessions to address accusations of anti-competitive practices in its Android app store.