Google has agreed to pay the state of Texas $1.375 billion to resolve two significant lawsuits that accused the company of unlawfully tracking users’ location details, searches conducted in incognito mode, as well as capturing voice and facial data without explicit consent.
These lawsuits were initiated by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022. Last year, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, similarly settled allegations brought by Paxton regarding the misuse of facial recognition technology for approximately the same amount.
In a statement, Paxton emphasized Texas’ firm stance against corporate misuse of private data: “In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law. Google secretly tracked people’s movements, searches, and even biometric details like voiceprints and facial geometry through its services. We fought back and prevailed.” According to Paxton’s office, the total settlement marks the largest recovery nationwide from Google resulting from state-level privacy enforcement actions.
Google, however, underscored that the settlement does not imply any acknowledgment of wrongdoing or liability. According to company spokesperson José Castañeda, the settlement concludes numerous older claims regarding past practices that Google has long since changed. He noted, “We are pleased to resolve these past issues and will continue to embed rigorous privacy protections within our products.”
Earlier developments in these cases saw Google defending its practices vigorously, achieving some victories. Notably, an appeals court previously ruled that Google did not have sufficient ties with the state of Texas to face litigation there. Google repeatedly disputed claims that products like Google Photos were used inappropriately, insisting features involving facial scanning were implemented exclusively for photo-organizing purposes without commercial intentions.
This major settlement comes during continuing regulatory scrutiny of Google’s market power. Recent legal decisions deemed the company had unlawfully maintained monopolies in both search services and advertising technologies, potentially prompting significant restructuring or divestitures, such as spinning off Chrome. Google has indicated its intention to appeal these recent antitrust decisions.
Meanwhile, Paxton recently confirmed his intentions to run against Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn in next year’s midterm elections, signaling his ongoing influence on the state’s political landscape.
