Texas has put a price on privacy, and it's $1.375 billion. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured this historic sum from Google, marking the climax of what's been touted as one of the largest data privacy enforcement actions taken by a single state against a tech titan. In a bold statement, Paxton declared, "This historic $1.375 billion price tag for Google's misconduct sends a clear warning to all of Big Tech that I will take aggressive action against any company that misuses Texans' data and violates their privacy."
This isn't just a stern message but also a substantial leap from past settlements. While other states have settled for less, with the largest outside of Texas being $93 million, and a forty-state coalition getting $391 million, Texas alone has overshadowed these amounts spectacularly, securing almost one billion dollars more, according to the Texas Attorney General's official announcement. Attorney General Paxton has a history of tackling Big Tech head-on, with prior settlements with Meta, namely Facebook, for $1.4 billion and earlier dealings with Google totalling $708 million over competitive and deceptive trade practices.
The privacy violations in question span geolocation tracking, incognito browsing data collection, and the handling of biometric identifiers. Public records describe that Google's comprehensive tracking and data collection practices caught the ire of the Texas AG, leading to the legal showdown and the subsequent financial reckoning. "If Big Tech thinks they can get away with abusing user data and illegally spying on Texans without consequences, I will make sure they are proven wrong," Paxton stated, according to the Texas Attorney General.
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The Texas Attorney General's office worked with Norton Rose Fulbright as outside counsel in the legal case against Google. The law firm provided expertise to assist the state in holding Google accountable. The resulting $1.375 billion settlement marks a significant enforcement action in data privacy, reflecting the state’s commitment to protecting user privacy and compliance with applicable laws.
