Texas sued Google for allegedly collecting millions of biometric data from users without their consent.
A privacy lawsuit has been filed against Google by the Texas Attorney General for the alleged unauthorized collection of biometric data about users.
Texas sues Google for collecting private data
On October 20, 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Google after it was revealed that the company appeared to hold biometric data without users’ consent. Millions of Texans’ biometric data are believed to have been collected by Google through various apps and services, including Google Photos, Google Assistant and Google Nest.
Collecting biometric identifiers without consent is a violation of user rights and violates state law on the capture or use of biometric identifiers, which has been in effect for more than twelve years.
Facial and voice data would have been collected by Google
It is believed that voice and facial information has been collected by Google, which could threaten a user’s privacy. Even non-user data may have been taken indirectly, putting even more people at risk.
This unauthorized collection of biometric data could have started in 2015 or even earlier, and therefore went undetected for many years.
In a press release on Paxton’s official website, the attorney general said that “Google’s indiscriminate collection of personal information from Texans, including highly sensitive information like biometric identifiers, will not be tolerated.” Paxton also said he intends to continue fighting Big Tech to protect the privacy and security of Texas citizens.
This is not the first clash between Paxton and Google
The Texas attorney general is no stranger to clashes with Google. In January 2022, Paxton sued Google for violating Texas deceptive marketing practices law. Google allegedly did this by tracking the location of users without their knowledge. Although Google claimed that disabling the location feature would stop tracking, this does not appear to be the case.
Other US states have also engaged in legal battles with Google over its unauthorized user tracking. In October 2022, Google had to pay an $85 million settlement to the state of Arizona for tracking user locations on Android devices. Indiana, Washington and the District of Columbia also sued the conglomerate for its transgressions.
Google could suffer financial and reputational damage
With so many US states suing Google for unauthorized data collection, the company’s trustworthiness is in question, which can damage its reputation. Time will tell if Google actually collected this biometric data and whether the company will win or lose this lawsuit.
