Texas Attorney General — Google LLC
The Texas Attorney General secured a $1.375 billion settlement with Google for unlawfully tracking and collecting users' private data, including geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric data such as voiceprints and facial geometry, without consent.
Key takeaway — how to prevent this
Biometric data (faces, iris, fingerprints) needs an explicit lawful basis or consent. Scraping or capturing it without one is unlawful across the EU/UK and many US states (e.g. Illinois BIPA) — and draws the largest fines.
Case brief
Read from the authority's press release on 2026-09-06. Every holding carries a short verbatim quote from that text.
- Decided by
- Office of the Attorney General
- Parties
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton v. Google
- Remedy
- Google agreed to a $1.375 billion settlement in principle to resolve Texas's data privacy claims concerning geolocation tracking, incognito searches, and biometric data collection.
- Amount
- $1,375,000,000
- Appeal
- Appeal status not stated
Key holdings
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reached a $1.375 billion settlement in principle with Google to resolve data privacy enforcement claims.
“Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a $1.375 billion settlement in principle with Google, delivering a historic win for Texans’ data privacy and security rights”
Texas sued Google in 2022 for unlawfully collecting user data including location information, private searches, and biometrics.
“In 2022, Attorney General Paxton sued Google for unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data regarding geolocation , incognito searches , and biometric data .”
Google improperly tracked users' movements, searches, voiceprints, and facial geometry across its services.
“For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services.”
In plain English
In 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the technology company secretly and unlawfully tracked users and collected their private personal information. Specifically, the state alleged that Google collected geolocation data, monitored incognito searches, and captured biometric data such as voiceprints and facial geometry through its products and services. After years of litigation, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a historic $1.375 billion settlement in principle with Google to resolve Texas's data privacy claims. This settlement marks the largest recovery nationwide against Google for any state attorney general enforcing privacy laws. The text notes that prior individual state settlements for similar violations did not exceed $93 million, and a multistate coalition of forty states secured $391 million. The agreement concludes Texas's legal action over Google's unauthorized data collection practices. Attorney General Ken Paxton emphasized that Big Tech companies are not above the law and cannot profit by disregarding user privacy rights. Norton Rose Fulbright served as outside counsel for the Office of Attorney General during the proceedings.
Inclusion does not imply wrongdoing or liability. Status reflects the latest information we have — always check the official source for current status.