Users claimed that Google’s tools like analytics, cookies, and apps allowed Alphabet, Google’s parent company, to improperly follow people who used Google Chrome’s “Incognito” mode or other browsers’ “private” browsing mode.
Google delete browsing history:- Google agreed to delete billions of data records to end a lawsuit that said it was secretly tracking the internet use of people who thought they were browsing privately.
Google delete browsing history:- The settlement terms were submitted on Monday in a federal court in Oakland, California. They need approval from U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Google delete browsing history:- The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the settlement is worth over $5 billion, possibly up to $7.8 billion. Google isn’t paying any money as part of the settlement, but individual users can still sue the company for damages.
The lawsuit started in 2020 and involves many Google users who used private browsing since June 1, 2016.
Users claimed that Google’s tools like analytics, cookies, and apps allowed Alphabet’s new tab unit to wrongly follow people who used Google Chrome’s “Incognito” mode or other browsers’ “private” browsing mode.
Google delete browsing history:- They said this made Google into a “hidden store of information” because it allowed Google to learn about their friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and the “most private and possibly embarrassing things” they search for online.
As part of the agreement, Google will improve information about what it gathers during “private” browsing, which it’s already started doing. It will also let Incognito users stop third-party cookies for five years.
Google delete browsing history:- The lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote, “This means Google will gather less information from users’ private browsing, and Google will earn less money from this data.”
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the company was happy to resolve the lawsuit, which they always believed had no merit.
“We don’t link data to users when they use Incognito mode,” Castaneda said. “We’re glad to delete old technical data that was never linked to a person and wasn’t used to personalize anything.”
David Boies, a lawyer for the people suing, said the settlement is “a big step in making big tech companies honest and responsible.”
In December, they agreed on a temporary settlement, which stopped the trial planned for February 5, 2024. They didn’t say the details then. Later on, the lawyers for the people suing will ask Google to pay their legal fees, but they didn’t say how much yet.