Google Will Pay $1.4 Billion to Texas to Settle Claims It Collected User Data Without Permission

Google will pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas, reports the Associated Press, 'to settle claims the company collected users' data without permission, the state's attorney general announced Friday.'

Attorney General Ken Paxton described the settlement as sending a message to tech companies that he will not allow them to make money off of 'selling away our rights and freedoms.'
'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 through their products and services. I fought back and won....'

The state argued Google was 'unlawfully tracking and collecting users' private data.' Paxton claimed, for example, that Google collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through such products and services as Google Photos and Google Assistant.

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the agreement settles an array of 'old claims,' some of which relate to product policies the company has already changed. 'We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services,' he said in a statement. The company also clarified that the settlement does not require any new product changes.

Google's settlement with Texas 'far surpasses any other state's claims for similar violations,' according to a statement from their attorney general's office. 'To date, no state has attained a settlement against Google for similar data-privacy violations greater than $93 million. Even a multistate coalition that included forty states secured just $391 million — almost a billion dollars less than Texas's recovery.'
The statement calls the $1.375 billion settlement 'a major win for Texans' privacy' that 'tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.'

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