According to a lawsuit settlement arranged earlier this month, tech giant Google agrees to delete billions of web browsing data collected when users browse via “Incognito mode.”
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2020 in a San Francisco, California federal court, in which Google was accused of misrepresenting the type of data it gathers from users who utilise the “Incognito” private browsing mode in Google Chrome. It claimed that Google’s explanations on data privacy didn’t properly disclose the type of data being collected, including the websites users visited. The suit was settled by Google late last year, although the details of the settlement were only revealed in a filing on Monday.
The settlement outlines the actions that Google must take to change its practices. It includes deleting “billions of data records” that document the private browsing activities of users in the class action suit.
Part of the agreement also requires Google to update its disclosure to inform users about the type of data it collects every time they start a private browsing session.
For the next five years, the tech giant must also allow Incognito mode users to block third-party cookies by default to prevent Google from tracking users on external websites while using the web browser privately.
“This settlement ensures real accountability and transparency from the world’s largest data collector and marks an important step towards improving and upholding our right to privacy on the Internet,” the plaintiffs say.
“We are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless,” Google Spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement. ”We never associate data with users when they use Incognito mode. We are happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalisation.”
Though the plaintiffs originally wanted $5 billion, the amount they originally pursued in damages, Castañeda clarified that they are “receiving zero” but can still file claims individually.
