Google agrees to pay $1.38 billion in privacy lawsuit settlement

Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to settle a Texas lawsuit alleging the company violated user privacy by collecting sensitive data without proper consent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday, according to a recent report by Reuters.

The settlement resolves two 2022 lawsuits accusing Google of improperly tracking users' locations, facial geometry, and voiceprints, even when privacy settings were enabled.  

"This settles a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed," said Google spokesperson José Castañeda. "We are pleased to put them behind us." The company did not admit wrongdoing, and the settlement does not require product changes, states the Reuters report.

Paxton had alleged that Google misled users about its Incognito mode and continued location tracking despite users disabling the feature. The payout follows a similar $1.4 billion settlement Meta paid Texas last year over facial recognition claims. Neither announcement specified how the funds would be used.  

The deal marks one of the largest US state privacy settlements, though Google faces ongoing scrutiny over data practices globally, adds the report.