Texas
Google to pay Texas $1.4B to settle claims of unauthorized tracking, collecting of private data
Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney analyzes Google after the stock dropped 26% from its February high on ‘Varney & Co.’
Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle a lawsuit claiming the company collected users’ data without permission, according to state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton said the settlement sends a message to tech companies that he will not allow them to profit off “selling away our rights and freedoms.” He also said the agreement “is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”
“In Texas, Big Tech is not above the law,” Paxton said in a statement. “For years, Google secretly tracked people’s movements, private searches, and even their voiceprints and facial geometry through their products and services. I fought back and won.”
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Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle a lawsuit claiming the company collected users’ data without permission. (Marlena Sloss/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
This is the largest amount won by any state in a settlement with Google over similar data-privacy violations, Paxton said.
The agreement settles several claims Texas made against Google in a 2022 lawsuit over geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data. The state argued Google was unlawfully tracking and collecting users’ private data.
Paxton claimed the tech giant collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through applications like Google Photos and Google Assistant.
The agreement settles several claims Texas made against Google in a 2022 lawsuit over geolocation, incognito searches and biometric data. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Google said the agreement settles various “old claims,” including some related to product policies the company has already changed. The company said the settlement does not require any additional product changes.
“We are pleased to put them behind us, and we will continue to build robust privacy controls into our services,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the settlement “is a major win for Texans’ privacy and tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.” (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Texas had previously reached two other settlements with Google within the last two years, including in December 2023 when the company agreed to pay $700 million and make several other concessions to settle allegations that it had been stifling competition against its Android app store.
Last year, Meta agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas over claims that the company used facial recognition software without users’ consent. The “tag suggestions” feature was specifically cited in the suit, as Facebook would run photos uploaded to the website through its facial recognition software and suggested people to tag in photos.
The staff shake-up continues amid CFP preparation, as Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is reportedly adding another to his staff.
Soon after the news that the Aggies were expecting to hire former Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that former Rutgers co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Zach Sparber would be added to the staff in some capacity. Sparber is very familiar with new Texas A&M DC Lyle Hemphill, having worked with him at JMU and Duke.
It is an interesting hire, as similar to Travis Williams, Sparber is also coming off a defensive staff that was let go after bottom-of-the-conference defensive performances. However, before joining the staff at Rutgers, he helped James Madison’s team rank 21st nationally in scoring defense as the linebackers coach. While his official role has not yet been announced, his experience with Hemphill should help with continuity heading into next season.
No. 7-seed Texas A&M hosts the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (10-2) in a CFP first-round game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Kyle Field. The game can be viewed on ABC/ESPN.
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The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes hit the road for College Station for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The game is scheduled for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) with tickets still available to watch live.
How to get Texas A&M vs. Miami tickets for the best prices: Tickets for the Texas A&M vs. Miami playoff game are available on secondary markets Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.
The lowest prices are as follows (as of Dec. 15):
- Vivid Seats starting at $375
- StubHub starting at $388
- SeatGeek starting at $315
- Viagogo starting at $345
The Aggies own the homefield advantage and are listed as 3.5-point betting favorites to play their way into the second round. Texas A&M won its first 11 straight games of the 2025 season before falling to rival No. 16 Texas (27-17) in its regular-season finale. The Aggies were battle-tested in going 7-1 in a Southeastern Conference that put five teams into the College Football Playoff field. They also join Miami as teams to beat Notre Dame this season, winning a 41-40 shootout back in Week 3.
#10 Miami (10-2) at #7 Texas A&M (11-1)
College Football Playoff 1st round
- When: Saturday, Dec. 20 at noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
- Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
- Tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo
- TV channel: ABC/ESPN
- Streaming on: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate)
The Hurricanes’ 27-24 win over then-No. 6 Notre Dame was the best line entry on the team’s résumé as the third-place finisher in the messy Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami rattled off four straight wins to close the season and showed the kind of explosive scoring offense required to stack up with Texas A&M, scoring 34-plus points in each of those four wins. The Canes closed the season with a 38-7 blowout win over then-No. 23 Pitt to strengthen their CFP case.
The 14-year-old wanted in the deadly shooting of a man in Collin County over the weekend is in custody, police said.
Lavon police said Monday night that the teenage boy was taken into custody in Dallas without incident.
Police say the shooting happened Saturday night, just before 9 p.m. on Wellington Drive in Lavon, when an argument broke out between the 14-year-old suspect and a 24-year-old acquaintance.
Police say that the altercation turned deadly. The teen shot and killed the 24-year-old before fleeing the scene.
“A murder is a very rare thing in our city, so it’s shocking,” said J. Michael Jones, the Lavon Chief of Police. “And it’s even more shocking that this suspect is a 14-year-old.”
Community ISD confirmed the suspect is a student at Community Trails Middle School, where district leaders took extra precautions in case he is still in town.
Earlier Monday, Jones urged the suspect and anyone helping him to turn him in, saying, “I will find you. I will investigate you, and I will put you in jail.”
Lavon police thanked the community and several law enforcement agencies for their help with the investigation, including the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, the Community Independent School District Police Department, the Lavon Fire Department, and many others.
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