Google settles lawsuit over consumer tracking in incognito mode

Can someone who browses the Internet “privately” expect their activities to remain truly private? Or is it understood that Google also collects data from consumers? This was the focus of a class-action lawsuit filed against Google by a small group of American consumers in 2020.

Consumers demanded compensation of $5 billion (4.5 billion euros) from Google. The settlement of the case is now clear from a document issued by a California court. The lawsuit, which was scheduled for February, will not go forward. It is not known what Google agreed to with the complainants. Therefore, it remains uncertain how much Google settled on; Details about this are not coming out.

It's all about the incognito option. Google offers this feature in Chrome. “You can now browse privately,” Google reports. And: “Other people using this device can't see your activity.” In practice, this means that Google does not store your browsing history. The same applies to cookies.

However, the term “private” is confusing to say the least. Internet activities remain invisible to curious roommates who later look at your browser history, but they are not invisible to your Internet provider, for example. Google itself can also still obtain information about your browsing behavior, including based on your IP address or a set of specific characteristics of your computer, such as the operating system used, browser version, and screen size.

Not really special

Google continues to collect this data for analysis and advertising purposes, among other things. Regardless of whether consumers browse privately or not, incognito browsers are also valuable data points for Google. The plaintiffs therefore felt that Google had not made sufficiently clear that the private sector was not truly private.

Google has tried several times to deny the matter arguing that users are already aware of the fact that Google is also collecting data in incognito mode. Every time a user opens an incognito window, the company states that parties can still collect data. The judge disagreed with this at the time: Google allegedly did not explicitly inform its users.

The settlement is scheduled to be presented to the court at the end of next month. Final approval will take place after one month.

It's Google's second major settlement in a short time. Earlier this month, the company bought out a lawsuit for €640 million. This included lawsuits filed against its App Store policies. US states and consumers accused Google of making it nearly impossible for app developers to distribute apps through platforms other than its own Google Play Store.