Google found itself in hot water, facing a whopping $1.4 billion settlement to resolve two privacy lawsuits in the State of Texas back in 2022. The accusations? Violating the privacy rights of residents by tracking their location and search activities, as well as gathering facial recognition data without proper consent.
**Settling Old Claims**
“This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere,” said Google spokesman José Castañeda. With this agreement, Google hoped to put an end to a series of legal battles that have haunted the tech giant recently.
**Texas Attorney General Takes Action**
Leading the charge was Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who initiated these lawsuits under state laws pertaining to data privacy and deceptive trade practices. This hefty settlement mirrored Paxton’s prior success with Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), where he secured a similar $1.4 billion resolution over unauthorized facial tagging issues.
**Legal Woes for Tech Giants**
The troubles didn’t stop there for Google. Recent years saw the tech behemoth entangled in several antitrust cases due to its dominant position in app stores, search engines, and advertising technology markets. The pressure intensified when the U.S. government pushed for potential business breakup following allegations of monopolistic practices.
**Regulatory Climate on Privacy Concerns**
Privacy concerns have gripped regulators worldwide as digital giants amass vast amounts of user data without clear oversight or regulations. While federal guidelines on data privacy remain elusive, individual states like Texas and Washington have taken steps to rein in companies’ unchecked collection and use of biometric information.
Challenging Big Tech
“Big Tech is not above the law,” emphasized Paxton after securing the settlement from Google, signaling a growing trend of holding tech companies accountable for their actions.
**Texas’ Biometric Data Law**
Under Texas’ stringent Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier law, businesses must seek explicit permission before leveraging technologies like facial or voice recognition tools. Non-compliance could lead to penalties reaching up to $25,000 per violation—a stern warning for companies dabbling in biometric data without proper consent.
Facing Allegations
The lawsuit against Google encompassed multiple products such as Google Photos app’s face-search feature, Next camera’s visitor identification function, and Google Assistant’s voice recognition capabilities tailored for six users—a comprehensive scrutiny into how personal data was handled by these technologies.
**Deceptive Trade Practices Allegations**
Paxton further accused Google of deceiving Texans by surreptitiously tracking their whereabouts despite assurances that location tracking features were disabled—shining a light on what seemed like misleading practices within Incognito mode that wasn’t as private as users believed it to be.
As Apple reporter Tripp Mickle observed Silicon Valley antics closely during those tumultuous times for big tech players like Alphabet Inc., it became increasingly clear that no company could escape the regulatory spotlight when it came to safeguarding consumer privacy amidst advancing technological capabilities.
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