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Google has accused the state of Texas of double standards in a court filing, challenging the state’s opposition to the company’s request for deposition in a biometric data privacy lawsuit. Texas contends that granting Google’s request would hinder the state’s ability to address public harms effectively.
Google’s motion argues that Texas delayed enforcing biometric data privacy laws for 20 years and now seeks excessive compensation. The state’s response counters that since Google has not made any counter-claim against Texas, other investigations or enforcement actions by the Office of the Attorney General are irrelevant to the case.
The lawsuit, initiated by Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022, alleges that Google collected biometric data from millions of people without obtaining the necessary informed consent, as required by Texas state law.
Google also claims that Texas’s relationships with biometric vendors Clearview AI and Idemia should be scrutinized, asserting that these vendors are engaged in similar practices that the state 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,” Google argues.
Google maintains that raising these questions is a common legal practice. Clearview AI has contracts to provide facial recognition services to police departments in Dallas and Leander, Texas, though state-level contracts with Texas have not been disclosed publicly.
In a related case, Texas recently sued Meta under the same biometric data privacy law and reached a provisional settlement agreement just weeks ago.
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