Google's Ask Photos Tool Unavailable in Texas and Illinois

Google’s Ask Photos Feature Isn’t Available in Texas and Illinois

One of Google’s innovative features, Ask Photos, powered by its Gemini technology, is currently unavailable in Texas and Illinois. The tech giant confirmed this development to Engadget, although it did not disclose the reasons behind the restriction. Users in these two states are also finding that the Conversational Editing feature within Google Photos is absent.

Google stated, “The ability to ask Photos to edit your images is not available to users in Texas and Illinois at this time. We are working to determine how to make Ask Photos available to more users.” The Houston Chronicle, which first reported the news, suggests that recent lawsuit settlements may be a contributing factor. In 2022, Google settled an Illinois class action lawsuit over Google Photos data privacy issues for $200 million, and earlier this year, the company reached a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas concerning unauthorized user data collection.

Both of these settlements revolved around biometric data collection, which is essential for the features in question. The Ask Photos functionality relies on “face grouping,” a process where automated facial recognition clusters images of the same individual. However, state laws in Texas and Illinois mandate informed consent for such data practices. Reports indicate that usually only photographers, not everyone featured in their images, have agreed to Google’s terms, creating a complicated legal scenario that may lead Google to err on the side of caution.

Ask Google Photos allows users to make queries about their photo library, such as “What are all the cities I visited last year?” or “Show me the best photo from each national park I’ve visited.” Conversational Editing lets users tweak images using natural language, offering a streamlined user experience that launched with the Pixel 10 series.

As more features become commonplace in apps like Google Photos, discussions surrounding data privacy and consent will become increasingly essential. What do you think about these changes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!