Are you someone who prefers using the “Incognito Mode” on Google? Well, there’s some shocking news that has come forward. Google has collected data from users using the incognito mode on the search giant. A lawsuit claims that this is pretty misleading on Google’s part as users were not made aware of the extent to which their data can be captured while surfing incognito.
Now, a lawsuit named Brown v. Google has been ongoing since 2020. It accuses Google of giving vague information to its users about the incognito feature and that the data that has been accessed was taken under misleading terms. A settlement has been proposed now. If the settlement is accepted, Google might have to erase the private data of millions of users.
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The settlement against the Brown v. Google lawsuit, if passed, will ask Google to destroy or de-identify the web browsing data that it has collected from users when in incognito mode. The tech giant will have to do away with billions of records while ensuring that the permanent data is not linked to individual users. The proposal was filed in a California federal court on Monday
Speaking of these acquisitions, Google has denied these claims and said that internet service providers (ISPs) and employers have always had the potential to view and collect data from users’ Chrome browser history, even when they are using the Incognito Mode.
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The proposal, if accepted, will benefit approximately 136 million Google users. The tech giant will have to delete or anonymize the data it has collected from users in incognito mode up to December 2023.
In addition to this, Google will also have to default to block the third-party cookies in Incognito mode. This will prevent user tracking.
This lawsuit serves as a reminder to us that we are being tracked on the internet, even in “Incognito Mode” and we should be very safe.
