Matthew D. Dunn, Chair of Carter Ledyard’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Group, was quoted in an article in Cybersecurity Law Report titled “Texas AG’s Billion-Dollar Settlement With Google Highlights Biometric Data Use Compliance Considerations.” The article explores Google’s recent settlement under the Texas Capture and Use of Biometric Information Act (CUBI), a 2009 law. Google is set to pay $1.375 billion to resolve two lawsuits brought by Texas AG Ken Paxton centered on the tech giant’s use of individuals’ biometric, geolocation and incognito-mode search data. It is the largest penalty Google has ever paid over privacy issues, according to the Texas AG.
Read the full article here. (If article does not open due to paywall, please email @Dunn, Matthew D. for more information).
Matthew provided insights about Google’s decision to settle the case after the Texas AG appealed the appellate court’s decision to the Supreme Court of Texas.
“Google’s decision to settle was perhaps an indication that it was unwilling to risk a Supreme Court decision against it,” Matthew told the Cybersecurity Law Report. “There likely was concern that the Texas appellate court probably got it wrong to deny specific jurisdiction because Google has a strong presence in Texas and the tracking of the data of Texans is a meaningful connection to the state.”
Matthew also discussed the use of the consumer protection statutes in Google’s earlier settlement with 40 state AGs, and how this should remind companies to consider the risk of private suits by consumers under such laws. He also pointed out that companies’ use of location data is coming under more state-level pressure.