Report: Google receives lawsuit from Texas for breaching privacy laws

Portland News Staff on October 22, 2022

…

Image commercially licensed from: Unsplash

On Thursday, Texas General Ken Paxton sued Google, claiming the tech company violated the state’s biometric privacy law.

According to Paxton, Google collected users’ voiceprints and facial recognition data without their knowledge or consent.

The lawsuit

Paxton filed the lawsuit in the Midland County District Court in Texas.

It alleges that the company’s facial and voice recognition in Google Photos and smart speakers violated the state’s Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act.

Complaints

With Google Photos, the tech giant scans uploaded images, identifying and categorizing subjects like people who don’t know their faces have been scanned or saved.

The company also allegedly listened to Texans without considering the speaker’s consent to Google’s indiscriminate voice printing.

The complaint also claimed that Google’s Nest Hub Max, the smart home display with an integrated camera, was a “modern eye of Sauron.”

The Nest Hub Max watches people, waiting to identify a face it knows.

“All across the state, everyday Texans have become unwitting cash cows being milked by Google for profits,” said the complaint.

Texas and biometric data

The Red State is one of the few states to have a law regulating the use of biometrics.

Ken Paxton’s lawsuit marks the second time Texas has invoked the 2009 law to sue a company.

In February, Texas claimed that a now-closed Facebook photo tagging tool violated the Texas biometric law.

The Facebook tool was also the subject of a $650 million biometric privacy agreement in Illinois last year.

The state has other lawsuits against Google, including two consumer protection cases and an antitrust case against the company’s digital ads.

Reference:

Texas sues Google over alleged ‘indiscriminate’ biometric data collection

Snap stocks continue on a sharp decline

Portland News Staff on October 22, 2022

…

Amid a growing number of struggling businesses, Snapchat’s parent company, Snap, continues to endure a challenging year of slow revenue growth.

Revenue growth

On Thursday, Snap reported revenue of $1.13 billion for the three months ending September.

The report shows a modest 6% year-over-year increase, less than Wall Street expected.

The company is currently facing shrinking advertising budgets in an uncertain economic environment.

The company released a letter saying several factors had slowed sales growth.

Factors include growing competition and fear of advertisers, which makes up Snap’s core business.

“We are finding that our advertising partners across many industries are decreasing their marketing budgets,” the company said in its letter.

“Especially in the face of operating environment headwinds, inflation-driven cost pressures, and rising costs.”

Snap shares and report

In after-hours trading after the earnings report, Snap shares fell nearly 25%.

The company’s report will usher in what should be a sobering period of tech earnings.

Layoff announcements, hiring freezes, and cost-cutting measures have become increasingly common across the industry amid lingering recession fears.

The company sparked a wave of concern in May when it warned tech investors that the economy was deteriorating faster than expected.

Deteriorating economic conditions impacted sales and earnings guidance for the quarter.

In late August, Snap announced plans to lay off 20% of more than 6,400 employees worldwide.

Economic headwinds and competition

Snap faced headwinds from rising inflation, a stronger dollar and broader economic concerns.

The latter has caused advertisers and consumers to reconsider their spending in the United States and abroad.

Snap is also facing increasing competition from TikTok, one of its fastest-growing rivals.

The company continues to navigate its digital advertising business after Apple’s privacy changes made it harder for marketers to target users with ads.

Positive notes

Despite the report, Snap had a glimmer of hope as the number of daily active users rose 19% year-over-year to 363 million in the third quarter.

The company’s net loss was also lower than Wall Street expected.

However, Snap still lost $360 million in the quarter, compared to a loss of $72 million a year earlier.

Most of the $155 million loss comes from restructuring costs related to layoffs.

The company refused to share its financial outlook for the last three months of 2022.

In the letter, the company wrote:

“We expect that the operating environment will continue to be challenging in the months ahead and believe the actions we are taking provide a clear path forward for Snap.”

Reference:

Snap stock falls nearly 25% after revenue hit by shrinking advertiser budgets