Google accuses Texas of double-standard in biometric data privacy lawsuit

Google is trying to “investigate the investigator,” Texas says in a court filing opposed to the search giant’s deposition request in a biometric data privacy lawsuit. Granting the request would set a precedent that would cripple the state’s ability to address public harms, its attorneys say.

Google’s motion (via Reuters) states that Texas waited for 20 years to enforce the law, and seeks “astronomical” compensation.

The response opposing Google’s motion argues that as the company makes no counter-claim against the state, any other investigations or enforcement actions by the Office of the Attorney General are irrelevant.

The lawsuit was filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022, and alleges Google collected biometrics from millions of people without getting informed consent, as required by state law.

Google further claims that the relationships between Texas and biometrics vendors Clearview AI and Idemia deserves to be aired out, as they are actually doing the same thing as Texas wrongly accuses Google of.

“Rather than investigate its conduct or bring enforcement actions, the state is paying Clearview AI for access to a trove of biometric information of Texans,” says Google.

Asking these kinds of questions is not novel, the company argues.

Clearview has contracts to supply facial recognition to police in Dallas and Leander, Texas, but state-level contracts with Texas have not been publicly disclosed.

Texas has sued Meta under the same law, and reached a provisional settlement agreement just weeks ago.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  CUBI  |  data privacy  |  data protection  |  face biometrics  |  Google  |  lawsuits  |  Texas