Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to the state of Texas to settle two lawsuits that claimed the company violated residents’ privacy rights. The settlement was announced Friday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton sued Google in 2022, accusing the company of collecting personal data, including location, voiceprints, and facial geometry, without users’ consent. The lawsuits focused on three Google products: Chrome’s Incognito mode, location tracking in Google Maps, and face recognition features in Google Photos.
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a statement. “For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry. I fought back and won.”
In a statement, Google said that the agreement resolves claims related to Incognito mode, location history, and biometric data. The company did not admit to any wrongdoing.
“This settles a raft of old claims,” said Google spokesperson José Castañeda. “We are pleased to put them behind us.”
Paxton’s office said this is the largest state privacy settlement with Google to date. It follows a similar agreement last year, when Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, paid $1.4 billion to Texas over facial recognition data use.
Paxton did not say how the $1.375 billion will be used.
