Google to settle Texas data privacy claims for $1.4 billion.

A Google corporate logo hangs above the entrance to the company’s office at St. John’s Terminal in New York City on March 11, 2025. Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

Google agreed to pay nearly $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle allegations of violating the data privacy rights of state residents, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Friday. Paxton sued Google in 2022 for allegedly unlawfully tracking and collecting the private data of users.

The attorney general stated that the settlement, which addresses allegations in two separate lawsuits against the search engine and app giant, significantly surpasses all past settlements by other states with Google for similar data privacy violations.

Google’s settlement comes nearly 10 months after Paxton secured a $1.4 billion settlement for Texas from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to resolve claims of unauthorized use of biometric data from users of those platforms.

“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a statement on Friday. “For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won,” he added. “This $1.375 billion settlement is a major win for Texans’ privacy and sends a clear message that companies will face consequences for abusing public trust.”

Google spokesman Jose Castaneda stated that the company did not admit any wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, which includes allegations related to the Chrome browser’s incognito setting, location history disclosures on the Google Maps app, and biometric claims associated with Google Photos.

Castaneda mentioned that Google does not need to make any changes to its products in connection with the settlement, noting that all policy updates related to the allegations were previously announced or implemented. “This settles a range of old claims, many of which have already been addressed elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed,” Castaneda said. “We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to enhance privacy controls in our services.”