Texas AG Ken Paxton reaches settlement with Google for $1.375 billion
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)--Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that Google has signed the nearly $1.4 billion settlement that was originally agreed upon back in May. Google was sued by the State of Texas back in 2022 for misconduct of users private data including biometric identifiers, geolocation, and incognito browsing activity.
This settlement is one of the biggest payouts that a technology company has had to pay to any state. The previous largest settlement being the $391 million settlement that Google agreed to with a 40 state coalition.
“This historic $1.375 billion price tag for Google’s misconduct sends a clear warning to all of Big Tech that I will take aggressive action against any company that misuses Texans’ data and violates their privacy,” said Attorney General Paxton. “If Big Tech thinks they can get away with abusing user data and illegally spying on Texans without consequences, I will make sure they are proven wrong. This monumental settlement is a testament to my office’s commitment to taking on the biggest companies in the world and securing victory on behalf of Texans.”
Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the agreement settles “raft of old claims” that the company has “long since 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.
This comes after Paxton and the State of Texas reached an agreement with Meta (formerly known as Facebook) for $1.4 billion for violating the states capture or use of biometric information and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act back in July of 2024.
