Google Settles $5 Billion Lawsuit
Google has agreed to settle a $5 billion privacy lawsuit alleging that it tracked people who used the “incognito” mode in its Chrome browser and similar “private” modes in other browsers.
This lawsuit was filed in June 2020, and then in 2021 a federal judge denied the Alphabet Inc. unit’s initial request to throw out the case. Google had pointed out that a message displayed when users turned on Chrome’s incognito mode, informs them that their activity might still be visible to websites you visit, employer or school, or their internet service provider.
The proposed class action says the tech giant tracks users’ internet use through browsers set in “private” mode. The lawsuit says the Alphabet Inc is surreptitiously collecting information about what people view online and where they browse, despite their using what Google calls Incognito mode. The plaintiffs had alleged that Google violated federal wiretap laws.
For those who are not familiar with this browsing option, enabling incognito or private mode in a web browser only gives users the choice to search the internet without their activity being locally saved to the browser.
The settlement, reached last Thursday, must still be approved by a federal judge. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, but the suit originally sought $5 billion on behalf of users. The plaintiffs said they expect to present the court with a final settlement agreement by February 24, 2024.
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