January 2, 2024 at 05:36AM
Google settled a lawsuit filed in June 2020, alleging that the company misled users by tracking their online activity in “incognito” or “private” mode on web browsers. The class-action lawsuit sought at least $5 billion in damages, accusing Google of violating federal wiretap laws by collecting data without explicit user consent.
The meeting notes from Jan 02, 2024, discuss Google’s settlement in a lawsuit regarding online tracking and data privacy. The lawsuit alleged that Google misled users by tracking their surfing activity, even when using the “incognito” or “private” mode on web browsers. The class-action lawsuit sought at least $5 billion in damages, with settlement terms remaining undisclosed. Plaintiffs claimed that Google violated federal wiretap laws and tracked user activity using Google Analytics, collecting information when in private mode. Although Google attempted to dismiss the lawsuit by pointing out the message displayed when users turned on Chrome’s incognito mode, the U.S. District Judge ruled that the users did not explicitly consent to the data collection. This case sheds light on the limitations of private browsing modes in web browsers in protecting user privacy against tracking by advertising technologies and analytics APIs.