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   Google to pay $1.4 billion in unauthorized biometric data collection and   
   geo-tracking lawsuits   
      
   Date:   
   Mon, 12 May 2025 15:28:00 +0000   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Google has agreed to pay $1.375 billion to the state of Texas to settle   
   lawsuits over unauthorized tracking and data collection.    
      
   It was deemed that the company had been unlawfully tracking users'   
   geolocation, including while 'Location History' was disabled.    
      
   Google had also been collecting biometric data, such as facial geometry and   
   voiceprints, without consent, as well as tracking incognito searches and    
   other private user activity.   
      
   Google to pay out $1.4 billion for unauthorized data collection   
      
   The colossal sum might not be much to a company that generated $350 billion    
   in revenue in the most recent fiscal year, but it's still a sum that could    
   hit the company hard, marking the largest ever state settlement that Google   
   has had to pay out of data privacy issues.    
      
   In September 2023, Google paid out its then-largest-ever state settlement of   
   $93 million over allegations of misleading users about how their location    
   data was collected. Earlier in November 2022, the company settled a similar   
   data collection complaint in a payout worth $391 million, but that was to 40   
   states  not one.    
      
   "For years, Google secretly tracked peoples movements, private searches, and   
   even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and   
   services. I fought back and won, said Attorney General Ken Paxton, who   
   declared that "Big Tech is not above the law."    
      
   Google's 10-figure settlement follows a similar payout from Meta in July    
   2024, when it coughed up $1.4 billion over unlawfully collecting and using   
   facial recognition data.    
      
   Paxton added: "This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans   
   privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust."    
      
   A Google spokesperson told TechRadar Pro : "This settles a raft of old    
   claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning    
   product policies we have long since changed. We are pleased to put them    
   behind us and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our   
   services."   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/google-to-pay-usd1-4-billion-in-unautho   
   rized-biometric-data-collection-and-geo-tracking-lawsuits   
      
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