Google has agreed to pay a $1.375 billion settlement to Texas following two lawsuits over privacy violations.
The lawsuits were initially brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022. According to a recent press release by Paxton’s office, the state alleged that Google was secretly tracking users “movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services” without consent.
According to the statement, the settlement marks “the highest recovery nationwide against Google for any attorney general’s enforcement of state privacy laws.”
This is not the first time Google has gone to court for unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data. In 2022, the company agreed to pay nearly $400 million to 40 different states, over allegations of location tracking without user consent.
It follows a recent trend of Silicon Valley tech giants being taken to court over privacy breaches. Last year, Meta agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over photo tags and facial recognition. In January, Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit, alleging that Siri routinely recorded users’ private conversations then disclosed that information to third parties.
