Google Will Pay Texas 14 Billion
title: “Google Settles with Texas for $1.4 Billion Over Location Tracking and Biometric Data Practices” categories: [Cybersecurity & Data Protection, Privacy]
TL;DR
Google has agreed to pay Texas $1.4 billion to settle lawsuits over unauthorized location tracking and biometric data retention. This settlement is the largest of its kind in the U.S., surpassing previous fines. The agreement addresses issues with Google’s location history disclosures, incognito mode, and biometric data use in services like Google Photos.
Main Content
Google’s Record-Breaking Settlement with Texas
Google has agreed to pay the U.S. state of Texas a staggering $1.4 billion to settle two lawsuits focused on unauthorized location tracking and the retention of facial recognition data. This settlement amount far exceeds previous penalties imposed on the company for similar practices, including a $391 million settlement with 40 states in 2022, and smaller settlements with Indiana, Washington, and California in 2023.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reached this landmark settlement with Google, addressing the company’s unlawful tracking of geolocation data, incognito searches, and biometric data. The $1.375 billion agreement is a significant victory for consumer privacy and sets a precedent for future data protection cases.
In 2022, Attorney General Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google for unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data regarding geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric data. After extensive litigation, Paxton agreed to settle Texas’s data-privacy claims against Google for an amount that far surpasses any other state’s claims for similar violations, according to a press release published by the Attorney General of Texas.
“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,” said Attorney General Paxton. “This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust. I will always protect Texans by stopping Big Tech’s attempts to make a profit by selling away our rights and freedoms.”
The settlement represents a significant victory for privacy advocates in Texas and serves as a stern warning to companies against violating user trust and privacy.
Previous Settlements and Ongoing Efforts
In July 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a record $1.4 billion settlement from Meta (formerly known as Facebook) over the illegal use of facial recognition data. This settlement added to prior agreements with Google, totaling $700 million and $8 million.
Google has denied any wrongdoing in the $1.375 billion settlement, stating that it had already implemented relevant policy changes and would not alter its products as part of the deal. The settlement specifically addresses claims involving Chrome’s incognito mode, location history disclosures in the Google Maps app, and biometric data use in Google Photos.
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” said Google spokesman Jose Castaneda. “We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services.”
In June 2024, Google announced that starting December 1, 2024, it will store Maps Timeline data locally on user devices instead of their accounts and remove web access to that data. “Since the data shown on your Timeline comes directly from your device, Timeline won’t be available on Maps on your computer after you move your data,” reads the announcement published by Google.
Conclusion
The settlement between Google and Texas marks a pivotal moment in data privacy enforcement. It underscores the importance of holding tech giants accountable for their data practices and ensures that user privacy remains a top priority. As technology continues to evolve, so too must the regulations that protect consumers from unauthorized data tracking and retention.
Additional Resources
For further insights, check:
- Texas Attorney General’s Press Release
- CNBC Article on Google’s Settlement
- Google’s Announcement on Maps Timeline Data