Texas Settles Privacy Related Lawsuits Against Google For $1.375 Billion

by: Max Landaw

Texas is once again competing with California as to which state is the lead state privacy enforcer.  Days after California announced fines on Todd Snyder which we covered here, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a $1.375 billion settlement with Google.

The settlement resolves several claims that Texas made against Google related to geolocation, incognito searches, and biometric data.  In these cases, Texas alleged that Google was tracking location even when users disabled the feature and collected biometric identifiers including voiceprints and records of face geometry without users’ consent.

Why Is This Important?

Outside of the dollar amount, the striking feature about these lawsuits is that they were not based on the newer legislation, the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) which became enforceable on July 1, 2024.  Rather, because these cases against Google were filed in 2022, before the TDPSA was in place, Texas had to rely on more narrow laws such as the Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

With the TDPSA as a comprehensive privacy law, Texas has another and likely more powerful weapon in its arsenal to go after companies processing precise geolocation and biometric data.  Under the TDSPA, both these data types are called “sensitive data”, the processing of which requires the consumer’s consent. 

We can therefore surmise that future lawsuits with similar facts would also allege violation of the TDPSA with respect to precise geolocation, biometric data, and other sensitive data.  This suggests that the improper processing of sensitive data is here to stay as an enforcement priority in Texas.