In a landmark victory for consumer privacy rights, Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle lawsuits filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over allegations of illegal data collection practices.
The settlement, announced on May 9, 2025, resolves two lawsuits filed in 2022 that accused the tech giant of unlawfully tracking users' locations even when they had disabled location settings, collecting biometric data without proper consent, and misleading users about the privacy protections offered by Chrome's Incognito mode.
"For years, Google secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services," Paxton said in a statement. "This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans' privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust."
The lawsuits alleged that Google violated Texas' Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act by collecting millions of biometric identifiers, including facial geometry and voiceprints, through services like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max without obtaining informed consent from users.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement. "This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed," Castañeda stated. The settlement does not require Google to make any new changes to its products or privacy practices.
The $1.375 billion settlement dwarfs previous privacy settlements with Google, including a $391 million agreement reached by a coalition of 40 states and California's $93 million settlement. It comes nearly 10 months after Texas secured a similar $1.4 billion settlement with Meta over allegations of unauthorized collection and use of facial recognition data.
As tech companies continue to face increasing regulatory scrutiny over their data collection practices, this settlement marks a significant moment in the ongoing battle for digital privacy rights and signals that states are taking a more aggressive approach to enforcing consumer protection laws against Big Tech.