Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a $1.375 billion settlement in principle with Google, marking the largest individual state settlement against the tech giant for violations of data privacy laws.
The settlement stems from a 2022 lawsuit filed by Paxton, which accused Google of unlawfully collecting and tracking users’ geolocation data, incognito search histories, and biometric information, including voiceprints and facial geometry. The case alleged that Google continued to gather private data without user consent, violating Texas’s consumer protection and privacy laws.
“For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry,” said Paxton. “This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust..”
The settlement far surpasses previous individual and multistate resolutions. A coalition of 40 states previously settled with Google for $391 million—nearly $1 billion less than the Texas agreement. No other state has reached a Google privacy settlement exceeding \$93 million.
The lawsuit and settlement reflect Paxton’s aggressive stance against tech companies over alleged privacy abuses. In July 2022, he secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta (formerly Facebook) for the illegal use of facial recognition data—the largest such settlement ever obtained by a single state. Texas has also previously reached $700 million and $8 million settlements with Google over antitrust and deceptive trade practice claims.
Paxton credited outside counsel Norton Rose Fulbright for their role in the litigation and emphasized that Texas will continue to lead on privacy enforcement.
“This is about protecting Texans from corporations that put profit over privacy,” Paxton said.
The settlement remains subject to final approval and implementation.
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