AUSTIN –Attorney General Paxton filed his third lawsuit against Google, again alleging that the company is systematically misleading and deceiving Texas consumers in violation of Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a press release states.
Paxton’s most recent Geolocation lawsuit alleges that Google misled Texas consumers by continuing to track their location even when the user tried to prevent it. Google uses the ill-gotten data it accumulates to send targeted advertisements to the consumer, thereby earning enormous profits from wrongfully collected personal data.
This is the second lawsuit Paxton has hit Google with in as many weeks.
Last Week, the attorney general sued Google for alleged misleading endorsements.
This most recent Google lawsuit argues that the company misled Texas consumers by continuing to track their personal location even when the user thought he or she had disabled it from doing so. Google then uses the deceptively gathered data to push advertisements to the consumer, earning the Big Tech company enormous profits.
Paxton asserts Google provides a setting called “Location History” and tells users that, if they turn it off, “the places you go are no longer stored.” In spite of the assurance, Google continues to track users’ location through other settings and methods that it fails to adequately disclose.
“Google’s founding motto is ‘Don’t Be Evil.’ And yet it systematically lies to millions of consumers in order to stack billions of dollars into its coffers,” said Paxton. “Big Tech companies like Google continue to erode the American way of life and often break the law to maintain their overwhelming dominant market position. This lawsuit is just another part of my fight against Big Tech.
“I’ll hold Google accountable for misleading and deceiving Texans. This is not only an unethical invasion of privacy—it’s against the law.”