Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On May 9, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a $1.375 billion agreement in principle to settle cases it filed against Google in 2022 alleging that Google unlawfully collected, stored and used certain personal data of Texans without consent, including location information, biometric identifiers and web browsing activity. More specifically, according to the AG’s allegations, Google (1) continued to collect and use precise location data even when users disabled location services, (2) misled users to think that activity would not be tracked when using the “Incognito” mode in Google’s Chrome browser, and (3) captured and used biometric identifiers, such as voiceprints and facial geometry, in violation of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act through products such as Google Photos and Google Assistance.

A press release from the Texas AG’s Office stated that the settlement delivers “a historic win for Texans’ data privacy and security rights. . . . To date, no state has attained a settlement against Google for similar data-privacy violations greater than $93 million. Even a multistate coalition that included forty states secured just $391 million — almost a billion dollars less than Texas's recovery.”

A Google spokesperson said in a statement that the agreement “settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed.” The spokesperson said that Google is pleased to put the claims behind them and will continue to build robust privacy controls into Google services.