Google Agrees to $1.3 Billion Settlement in Texas Privacy Lawsuits

Google has agreed to a $1.375 billion settlement with Texas in lawsuits over location and private browsing tracking, and biometric data collection.

Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to Texas to settle allegations that it was tracking users’ location even when the feature was disabled, tracking their internet activity in private browsing, and using their biometric data without consent, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced.

In January 2022, the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, Texas, Indiana, and Washington state filed lawsuits against Google, alleging that the internet giant makes it nearly impossible for users to stop their location from being tracked.

According to the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Paxton, even if a user turned location settings off, Google would use other means to track their geolocation, using the data to serve advertisements and make huge profits.

In May 2022, the lawsuit was amended to include ...