(TheLastPatriotNews.com) – The state of Texas will file a lawsuit against Google for illegally collecting biometric data of users without their informed consent, the Texas Attorney General, Republican Ken Paxton, has announced.
The new lawsuit would be only “the latest in a long string of legal cases,” which Paxton has initiated against Google and its parent company Alphabet, Newsmax noted in a report.
The state of Texas will argue that Google has gathered millions of biometric identifiers from Texas residents without receiving informed consent.
These include records of face geometry and voiceprints, which the tech giant harvested through its products, such as Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max.
According to Ken Paxton, Google has broken the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act.
The state law passed in 2009 bans collecting a person’s biometric data without prior informed consent.
“Google’s indiscriminate collection of the personal information of Texans, including very sensitive information like biometric identifiers, will not be tolerated,” Paxton said.
“I will continue to fight Big Tech to ensure the privacy and security of all Texans,” the Republican AG of Texas vowed.
The Texas legislation defines biometric identifiers as “a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry.”
At least some of the identifiers in question have been collected by Google’s products.
Paxton has been behind his state’s “aggressive legal campaign” against what is “arguably the most powerful tech company in the world.
The state of Texas has also adopted an emblematic law on tech censorship, which has equated major tech platforms to common carriers.
The law has enabled users to sue tech giants such as Google in order to restore their closed accounts.
The Texan legislation forces Big Tech companies to reveal how their algorithms prioritize content, practically imposing transparency on them.
Texas’ anti-censorship law has been attacked by the tech industry in court but has been upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The United States Supreme Court will probably decide the fate of the Texan law and the lawsuit’s outcome.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the Lone Star State will bring a case against Google over the unauthorized collection of biometric data from users without their informed consent. https://t.co/hi7VBlxI75
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) October 20, 2022
