Google to pay Rs 11,740 crore for illegally collecting users’ location and biometric data

Google

Google has agreed to pay a massive Rs 11,740 crore (roughly $1.375 billion) to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas in the United States. The case was about the tech giant allegedly tracking users without their knowledge, even when they thought their data was private.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2022 by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. He accused Google of secretly collecting people’s location data, private browsing history in Incognito mode, and even biometric details like voice and facial information. After nearly two years of legal back and forth, Google has agreed to settle — and the amount is the largest ever paid by the company for violating state privacy laws.

“This is a major win for privacy,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Google has been secretly tracking where people go, what they search for, and even collecting their facial geometry and voiceprints. This settlement shows that companies can’t get away with misusing personal data.”

The fine is much bigger than similar privacy-related settlements. For instance, a group of 40 U.S. states together had earlier secured just $391 million from Google for similar issues. Even the largest single-state fine before this one was only $93 million. So, Texas’s Rs 11,740 crore deal stands out by a long shot.

This isn’t the first time Texas has taken on big tech. In fact, the state has already settled with Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, for about Rs 11,980 crore ($1.4 billion) over facial recognition data. Texas has also previously fined Google Rs 5,980 crore ($700 million) in another case over unfair business practices.