Texas has sued Google for allegedly collecting and using biometric data belonging to millions of Texans without proper consent, the attorney general’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
The complaint says that companies operating in Texas have been barred for more than a decade from collecting people’s faces, voices, or other biometric data without advanced, informed consent.
“In blatant defiance of that law, Google has, since at least 2015, collected biometric data from innumerable Texans and used their faces and their voices to serve Google’s commercial ends,” the complaint said. “Indeed, all across the state, everyday Texans have become unwitting cash cows being milked by Google for profits.”
The collection occurred through products like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max, the statement said.
“For more than a decade, Texas has prohibited companies from capturing Texans’ biometric data—including the unique characteristics of an individual’s face and voice—without their informed, advance consent,” the petition reads [PDF].
“In blatant defiance of that law, Google has, since at least 2015, collected biometric data from innumerable Texans and used their faces and their voices to serve Google’s commercial ends.”
Google said it would fight the lawsuit, saying that users of the services had the option to turn off the biometric collection feature.
“AG Paxton is once again mischaracterizing our products in another breathless lawsuit,” said Google spokesman Jose Castaneda. “We will set the record straight in court.”
