Google will pay Texas $1.4B to settle claims the company collected users’ data without permission

By HALLIE GOLDEN, Associated Press

Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle claims the company collected data on users without permission, the state’s attorney general announced Friday.

In 2022, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Google, saying the search giant collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through its products and services like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max.

“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law. 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 in a statement Friday.

Google did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The news comes a little less than a year after Meta agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over allegations that the tech giant used biometric data of users without their permission.