In a landmark resolution, Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle a major Data Privacy Lawsuit brought by the state of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.
The agreement marks one of the largest state-level privacy settlements in U.S. history and underscores increasing scrutiny of Big Tech’s handling of personal data.
“After years of aggressive litigation, Attorney General Paxton agreed to settle Texas’s data-privacy claims against Google for an amount that far surpasses any other state’s claims for similar violations,” said Paxton in a statement.
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Allegations of Privacy Violations
The original lawsuits, filed in 2022, accused Google of unlawfully collecting and tracking users’ geolocation data, incognito browsing activity, and biometric information, without proper consent. The lawsuits claimed these actions violated Texas privacy and consumer protection laws.
Although Google has not admitted to any wrongdoing, the settlement brings an end to the state’s two major lawsuits targeting the company’s data practices.