Austin: Google has agreed to pay approximately $1.4 billion to settle lawsuits brought by the state of Texas over alleged violations of user privacy, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday. The lawsuits, filed in 2022, accused Google of collecting Texans' data without consent, including tracking users' locations, private searches-even in 'Incognito' mode-and harvesting biometric identifiers like voiceprints and facial geometry.

According to Anadolu Agency, Paxton called the $1.375 billion settlement a 'major win for Texans' privacy,' stating that 'Big Tech is not above the law.' He explained that Google 'secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry' through its services. This settlement is the largest by Google with a U.S. state over privacy breaches.

This development follows other significant settlements by Texas, including a $700 million settlement with Google in 2023 concerning 'anticompetitive practices' and a $1.4 billion agreement with Meta in 2024 over biometric data collection. In response, Google stated that the agreement resolves long-standing claims related to outdated practices that have already been addressed.

Google's spokesperson, Jose Castaneda, mentioned that no new product changes are required under the settlement and that necessary disclosures and policy updates have already been implemented. He expressed satisfaction in resolving the issue, emphasizing that the company will continue to build robust privacy controls into its services. Castaneda also noted that Google admits no wrongdoing or legal liability as part of the settlement.