Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit, which claims Google is violating a 2009 Texas biometric law that requires companies to receive advanced, informed consent before.
TL;DR: Texas has filed a lawsuit against Google over allegations that it illegally collects the biometric data of millions of people in the state using products such as Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the lawsuit, which claims Google is violating a 2009 Texas biometric law that requires companies to receive advanced, informed consent before collecting biometric data, including fingerprints, voices, and records of people’s « face geometry. »
The complaint alleges that Google has been violating this law since 2015 when it introduced the Google Photos Face Grouping feature, which identifies facial features to recognize a face within a photo and group any pictures or videos that include that person (or pet). The suit says Google has been collecting biometric data from « innumerable » Texans to serve the company’s commercial ends. « Indeed, all across the state, everyday Texans have become unwitting cash cows being milked by Google for profits. »
« Many Texans do not know or understand that Google powers Google Photos by recording and analyzing sensitive biometric information.
