Google Will Pay $1.4 Billion to Texas to Settle Claims It Collected User Data Without Permission (apnews.com)
- Reference: 0177419151
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/05/10/0430217/google-will-pay-14-billion-to-texas-to-settle-claims-it-collected-user-data-without-permission
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/texas-google-settlement-8097e181cc7cb8522781db8a9a897eea
> Attorney General Ken Paxton described the settlement as sending a message to tech companies that he will not allow them to make money off of "selling away our rights and freedoms."
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> "In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law." Paxton said in a statement. "For years, Google secretly tracked people's [2]movements , [3]private searches , and even their [4]voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won...."
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> The state argued Google was "unlawfully tracking and collecting users' private data." Paxton claimed, for example, that Google collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through such products and services as Google Photos and Google Assistant. Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the agreement settles an array of "old claims," some of which relate to product policies the company has already changed. "We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services," he said in a statement. The company also clarified that the settlement does not require any new product changes.
Google's settlement with Texas "far surpasses any other state's claims for similar violations," according to [5]a statement from their attorney general's office . "To date, no state has attained a settlement against Google for similar data-privacy violations greater than $93 million. Even a multistate coalition that included forty states secured just $391 million — almost a billion dollars less than Texas's recovery."
The statement calls the $1.375 billion settlement "a major win for Texans' privacy" that "tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust."
[1] https://apnews.com/article/texas-google-settlement-8097e181cc7cb8522781db8a9a897eea
[2] https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-sues-google-deceptively-tracking-users-location-without-consent
[3] https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-amends-google-lawsuit-include-incognito-mode-another-deceptive-trade-practices-act
[4] https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/paxton-sues-google-its-unauthorized-capture-and-use-biometric-data-and-violation-texans-privacy
[5] https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-historic-1375-billion-settlement-google-related-texans-data
With a $350 billion annual revenue (Score:2)
A good start but it always helps to put this in perspective.
They made $350 billion in revenue 2024. Over $100 billion in income.
I assure you they make a profit breaking these laws. $1.4 isn't a small amount though, if it keeps happening.
Re: (Score:2)
With Ken & Co, you can believe the threat of "we'll make this keep happening" is conditional not on whether Google continues to collect data, but whether they co-operate with unrelated extrajudicial demands. For example, it's not uncommon for there to be negative press about Mr. Ken and his interests, that may need to be suppressed in the search results.
I wish the fines, at least, were going toward something good. Even setting aside the piece that Ken's going to skim off, the rest of the Texas governmen
So we are just bitches for the state to profit off (Score:4, Interesting)
I mean do we consumers see any of this billion or were we just there to be little bitches to justify the states massive haul.
Inquiring minds want to know
Re: (Score:2)
The government using this fine towards anything that benefits people would be socialism and we certainly can’t have that.
Re: (Score:2)
Ku Klux Ken is lining his own pockets with it. That's all.
Re: (Score:2)
> or were we just there to be little bitches to justify the states massive haul.
Got it in one!
"Is not above the law" (Score:2)
Proceeds to sign agreement absolving Google of any legal wrongdoing
A win for privacy (Score:1)
A win for the people. Ken Paxton's been doing good work.
Re: (Score:3)
> A win for the people. Ken Paxton's been doing good work.
You sure that wasn’t also a win for Google? Because I was looking at that pocket-change settlement and realizing once again that this fine is nothing more than the cost of doing business regardless of the law. Also known as one of the benefits of being Too Big To Fail.
When a fine changes the inherent behavior of Greed, then I’ll believe it was effective. Hasn’t happened yet. (Oh and by the way, that also includes the attorney that walks away with fucking millions.)
Re: (Score:2)
Ku Klux Ken Paxton never does anything legitimate. It's all to line his filthy pockets. He's a crossburning Constitution-hating Fuckbitch with delusions of Klan Grandeur.
Re: (Score:2)
Untrue, but nevertheless Ku Klux Ken The Crossburning Fuckbitch Paxton IS a white-supremacist sack of Klan Shit.
Re: (Score:2)
Do you have evidence Ken Paxton is affiliated with the KKK? I don't think you do, and your words constitute slander.
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen his entire career. He's a corrupt, felonious Klan Sack of Constitution Hating Shit who ought to be in prison.
Re: (Score:2)
You nailed it. Corrupt Klan Fuckbitch "Ku Klux Ken" Paxton paid Taliban Dan Patrick to rig the trial, and everyone watching the stream saw it happen. The entire TXGOP are corrupt, Constitution-hating Klan Assholes.