Google to Pay Texas Law Firms $190M as Part of Privacy Settlement
Google agreed to pay a group of private law firms that worked alongside Texas up to $190 million in legal fees associated with a privacy case about the company's unlawful tracking and collecting of users' personal information, according to a signed order filed in a Texas state court Monday.
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The data unlawfully tracked and collected included geolocation and biometric data. In May, the case was settled for nearly $1.4 billion (see 2505090071).
The company additionally agreed to pay around $71 million to the Office of the Attorney General for costs incurred during the investigation and litigation, according to the order.
All claims against Google were dismissed with prejudice. The order said the company would pay Texas $1.375 billion in monetary penalties for the privacy violations, from which the state will pull funds needed to cover "all attorneys’ fees, costs, and legal expenses incurred by the State in connection with the Actions."
The company has 60 days from when the order was filed to pay the first installment of $475 million.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed the lawsuit against Google in October 2022, citing violations of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (see 2210200075). Lawyers and consumer privacy advocates said the resulting settlement solidified the state's status as an aggressive privacy enforcer (see 2505120054).
The settlement resolves “a raft of old claims, many of which have already been resolved elsewhere, concerning product policies we have long since changed," a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Privacy Daily Monday. Google "will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services," the spokesperson added. The statement was the same as the one Google issued after the settlement.