Google has agreed to pay around $ 1.4 billion to pay the US State of Texas, accusing the company to settle two cases, accusing users of keeping an eye on the individual location and maintaining data of their face identification without consent.
$ 1.375 billion payment is a dwarf fine, which has been paid by Tech Giands to settle the same cases brought by other American states. In November 2022, it paid $ 391 million to a group of 40 states. In January 2023, it paid $ 29.5 million to Indiana and Washington. Later in September, it, it settled another $ 93 million to settle with California.
Originally filed in 2022, which belongs to illegal tracking and collection of user data, about geolocation, secret discoveries and biometric data, monitors the hideout of users, even when the location history setting was disabled and biometric data was collected without informed consent.
“Over the years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, personal discoveries and even through his products and services,” Texas Attorney General Kane Pasteton said in a statement.
“This is a major victory for the privacy of Texas, a disposal of $ 1.375 billion and tells companies that they will pay to misuse our trust.”
Last year, Google announced a plan to store maps timeline data locally on users’ equipment instead of its Google accounts. The company has also rolled out other confidentiality controls that allow users to auto-delete location information when the location settings are capable.
The payment also imposed a fine of $ 1.4 billion that Meta paid to Texas to prosecute the allegations that it illegally collects biometric data of millions of users without their permission.
This development comes at a time when Google is a matter of intensive regulatory investigation on both sides of the Atlantic, which is facing calls to break parts of their business to meet mistrust concerns.
