Mark Mahaney, senior managing director at Evercore ISI, discusses Google’s stock decline of 26% since its peak in February during an appearance on “Varney & Co.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced that Google will pay $1.4 billion to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of gathering user data without consent.
Paxton emphasized that this settlement serves as a warning to tech firms that they cannot profit from infringing on “our rights and freedoms.” He described the agreement as a significant win for privacy in Texas, indicating a clear message to businesses about accountability for breaching public trust.
“In Texas, major tech companies are held to the law,” Paxton stated. “For years, Google has been secretly tracking people’s movements, private searches, and even capturing their audio and facial data through its services. I fought back and we’ve secured a victory.”
This settlement is reportedly the highest amount any state has received from Google regarding similar data privacy concerns, according to Paxton.
The agreement resolves multiple accusations made by Texas in a lawsuit filed last year that claimed Google engaged in illegal tracking and data collection practices.
Paxton highlighted that the tech giant amassed millions of biometric identifiers, including VoicePrints and Face Geometry, through apps like Google Photos and Google Assistant.
In response, Google stated that this settlement addresses “old bills,” which include updates to existing product policies. They noted that no further changes to products are required due to the agreement.
José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, expressed relief in moving past these issues, reaffirming the company’s commitment to enhancing privacy controls across its services.
Over the past two years, Texas has reached two prior settlements with Google, which included a $700 million payment in December 2023 related to competition issues concerning the Android App Store.
In a similar vein, last year, Meta settled with Texas for $1.4 billion over claims that it used facial recognition without user consent, particularly involving the “suggestion tag” feature on Facebook that processes uploaded photos for tagging.
