Aug 2 (Reuters) - A Texas state judge on Friday barred

Google from questioning the state and its legal team in their

lawsuit accusing the Alphabet unit of unlawfully

collecting biometric privacy data of millions of Texans without

consent.

In a brief order, Judge Leah Robinson in Midland County said

Google could not compel Texas to submit to a deposition in the

case. Texas had opposed Google's effort to depose the state,

calling it an impermissible effort to "investigate the

investigator."

Google wanted to question Texas over the state's

understanding of key terms in the privacy law at the center of

the 2022 lawsuit, including how liabilities and penalties are

determined. Google said the state had refused to offer a witness

who could talk about the basis of the state's claims and provide

evidence that Google could need for its defense.

Google on Friday declined to comment. The Texas attorney

general's office did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Texas in its lawsuit accused Google of deceptive trade

practices and alleged it violated a state law that shields

biometric identifiers such as faces, fingerprints and eye scans

from being captured without approval.

Google unlawfully collected biometric data through Google

Photos, Google Assistant and Nest Hub Max, Texas said. The

privacy law sets out penalties of up to $25,000 per violation.

Google has denied any wrongdoing.

Google told the court in a filing in May that the Texas

biometric privacy law "sat unenforced for its first twenty years

on the books" before the state lodged cases against Google and

Facebook parent Meta in 2022.

Meta this week agreed to pay $1.4 billion to

resolve the Texas lawsuit.

Lawyers for Texas at Keller Postman and McKool Smith said

the settlement was the largest-ever won by a single state. Meta

denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The case is Texas v Google LLC, 385th Judicial District

Court, Midland County, No. CV58999.

For Texas: Marc Collier and Joseph Graham Jr of Norton Rose

Fulbright

For Google: R. Paul Yetter of Yetter Coleman; Benedict Hur

and Simona Agnolucci of Willkie Farr & Gallagher

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