Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to the U.S. state of Texas, settling two major lawsuits that accused the tech giant of illegally tracking user locations and collecting biometric data—such as facial geometry and voiceprints—without consent. The settlement, announced by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, marks the largest state-level privacy payout in U.S. history, surpassing previous Google settlements with other states combined.

The lawsuits alleged that Google misled users about its data collection practices and violated Texas' biometric privacy and consumer protection laws by continuing to collect and store sensitive user information even after users had disabled relevant privacy settings. "For years, Google secretly tracked people's movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry," said AG Paxton. "This $1.375(₹11,481.25 crore )billion settlement is a major win for Texans' privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust."

The cases, originally filed in 2022, focused on two key areas of concern:

1. Geolocation tracking – even when users turned off Location History settings, Google allegedly continued to track and store location data through other services like Maps and Search.

2. Biometric data collection – Google was accused of collecting facial recognition and voice data through products like Google Photos and Google Assistant, without obtaining informed user consent, in violation of Texas' biometric privacy laws.

The lawsuits also revealed that Google tracked incognito mode searches, undermining user expectations of privacy while using Google Chrome's private browsing features.

While Google has previously reached settlements with other U.S. states over similar allegations—paying:

$391 million(₹3,264.85 crore) to 40 states in November 2022,
$29.5 million(₹246.325 crore) to Indiana and Washington in January 2023, and
$93 million(₹776.55 crore) to California in September 2023—

the Texas settlement dwarfs these payouts, signaling a growing crackdown on Big Tech's data practices at the state level.

This settlement matches a similar $1.4 billion(₹11,957.39 crore) fine paid by Meta to Texas over the illegal collection of biometric data from Facebook users. Together, these landmark cases suggest that states are becoming more aggressive in protecting digital privacy rights in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation.

While Google has not admitted wrongdoing, the company has taken steps to improve user privacy controls. In 2023, it announced that Maps Timeline data—which tracks users' location history—would be stored locally on devices rather than synced to user accounts. Google also now allows users to auto-delete location data after a set period and has improved transparency around data usage in Chrome and Assistant.

Despite these efforts, regulators remain skeptical. Privacy advocates argue that such measures do not fully undo years of invasive data harvesting, and critics question whether self-regulation is sufficient without legislative enforcement.

The Texas settlement comes as Google faces mounting scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and Europe, including ongoing antitrust investigations, calls to break up its ad tech business, and challenges to its dominance in search, mobile OS, and digital advertising.

With this case, Texas has reinforced its position as a leader in privacy enforcement, sending a strong message that data exploitation will carry billion-dollar consequences.

This landmark ruling is likely to have ripple effects across the tech industry:

• 1. Users may begin to see stricter data consent measures and more transparent privacy policies.
• 2. Tech firms operating in Texas and beyond may face increased legal risk if they fail to comply with evolving privacy standards.
• 3. Other states may use this case as a template for enforcing their own biometric and consumer privacy laws, accelerating the push for nationwide standards.

As governments wrestle with how to balance innovation with digital rights, the Texas-Google settlement marks a turning point in the regulation of tech giants, reinforcing that data privacy is not optional—it's a legal and ethical mandate.