Google will pay Texas $1.4B to settle claims over user data collection
Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle claims the company collected users’ data without permission, the state’s attorney general announced Friday.
Attorney General Ken Paxton described the settlement as sending a message to tech companies that he will not allow them to make money off of “selling away our rights and freedoms.”
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law.” Paxton said in a statement. “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.”
The agreement settles several claims Texas made against the search giant in 2022 related to geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data. The state argued Google was “unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data.”
Paxton claimed, for example, that Google collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through such products and services as Google Photos and Google Assistant.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the agreement settles an array of “old claims,” some of which relate to product policies the company has already changed.
“We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services,” he said in a statement.
The company also clarified that the settlement does not require any new product changes.
Paxton said the $1.4 billion is the largest amount won by any state in a settlement with Google over this type of data-privacy violations.
Texas previously reached two other key settlements with Google within the last two years, including one in December 2023 in which the company agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.
Meta has also agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas in a privacy lawsuit over allegations that the tech giant used users’ biometric data without their permission.
Pope meets Sinner: No. 1 player gives Pope Leo XIV a racket on Italian Open off day
Pope Leo XIV has made peace with Jannik Sinner. The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open.
Argentina orders immigration crackdown with decree to ‘make Argentina great again’
In a country that has long prided itself on its openness to immigrants, the declaration drew criticism from the Argentine president's opponents and prompted comparisons to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ford recalls nearly 274,000 SUVs due to brake issues of loss of brake function
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the front brake lines in the SUVs "may be in contact" with their engine air cleaner outlet pipe due to a potential installation defect.
A hotline between the Pentagon and DCA airport hasn’t worked since 2022, FAA says
An FAA official said the hotline, which connects air traffic control at Washington's DCA with the Pentagon, hasn't worked since 2022. An Army helicopter collided with a passenger jet there in January.
Georgetown researcher released from immigration detention on federal judge’s order
Badar Khan Suri is the latest scholar targeted by the Trump administration to be released from detention.
The latest roadblock for House Republicans’ ‘big beautiful bill’: Senate Republicans
House Republicans are trying to pass a massive bill full of President Trump's top agenda items by the end of next week. But a new set of hurdles awaits in the Senate.
