In an effort to settle a lawsuit over its data collection practices, Google has agreed to destroy web browsing data collected from users browsing in Chrome’s private mode (which isn’t as private as you might think). There was no).
lawsuit [PDF]was filed in June 2020 on behalf of plaintiffs Chasom Brown, Maria Nguyen, and William Byatt, and seeks to hold Google accountable for misleading statements about privacy.
Specifically, the search giant’s privacy policy asserted that users can control the information Google collects. However, as the lawsuit alleges, Google did not provide the privacy promised and implied through services such as Chrome’s Incognito mode.
“Despite claims that you control what information Google tracks and collects, Google’s various tracking tools, including Google Analytics and Google Ad Manager, actually allow you to control what information Google tracks and collects. “It is designed to automatically track users who visit web pages, regardless of the settings they choose,” the complaint alleges. “This is true even if the user is browsing in ‘private browsing mode.'”
Chrome’s Incognito mode only provides privacy on the client by not keeping a locally stored record of your browsing history. It does not protect access to your website from Google. The lawsuit was filed because the language Google was using at the time suggested otherwise. He also explains Google’s data collection from users using private mode in other browsers.
Google tried unsuccessfully to have the lawsuit dismissed.
During the discovery period from September 2020 to March 2022, Google produced over 5.8 million pages of documents. Still, he was sanctioned nearly $1 million by Judge Susan Van Coolen in 2022 for concealing the details of how he detected when Chrome users were using Incognito mode.
What the plaintiffs’ attorneys discovered may have been difficult to explain in court.
Google employees have called Chrome Incognito Mode “misleading,” “factually false,” “confusing,” “a matter of professional ethics and fundamental integrity,” and “bad for users and bad for human rights.” evil, evil for society.” According to the Declaration, democracy” [PDF] These are the statements made by Mark C. Mao, a partner at the law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner, who is representing the plaintiffs.
Emails to this effect surfaced in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google. Lorraine Twohill, Google’s chief marketing officer, sent an email. [PDF] In 2021, he wrote to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives, calling for “meaningful change” in the tech giant’s privacy practices.
On December 26 of last year, the plaintiffs and Google agreed to settle the lawsuit. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have suggested the relief provided by the settlement is worth $5 billion, but nothing has yet been paid.
This settlement targets two classes of people. One of them excludes people who use Incognito mode while logged into their Google account.
- class 1: All Chrome browser users with a Google Account. You used that browser to visit a non-Google website that contains Google tracking code or advertising code, and (a) you were in “incognito mode” on that browser, and (b) you were not signed in to your Google Account. In that browser, communications, including identifying information and online browsing history, were intercepted, received, or collected by Google from June 1, 2016 to the present.
- class 2: All Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer users who have a Google account and use that browser to visit a non-Google website that contains Google tracking or advertising code, and who (a) enter “private browsing mode” in that browser; and (b) even though you were not logged in to your Google Account in that browser, Google intercepted, received, or collected your communications, including your personal information and online browsing history, from June 1, 2016 to the present. did.
settlement [PDF] Google requires: Notify users that private browsing data is collected in both the privacy policy and the secret splash screen. “Billions of data records that reflect the private browsing activity of class members must be deleted and/or repaired.” Block third-party cookies in Incognito mode for the next five years (Separately, Google We are phasing out third-party cookies this year). You should also remove browser signals that indicate private browsing mode is active to prevent future tracking.
Google spokesperson Jose Castañeda declared in a statement: “We are pleased to have settled this lawsuit, which we have long believed to be without merit.” register. “Plaintiffs originally wanted $5 billion, but they received zero. If you use Incognito mode, we will never associate your data with you. It is not associated with an individual. We are happy to remove old technical data that is not used for any form of personalization.”
Google might still pay something. The terms of the settlement retain the plaintiffs’ right to sue Google for damages individually. And, according to the settlement, “a significant number of class members have recently filed and continue to file complaints in California state courts asserting these damages claims individually in their individual capacities.” .
The class of people affected is estimated to be approximately 136 million people. ®
