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Google settles $5bn lawsuit for 'private

mode' tracking
28th December 2023, 06:09 PST Share

By Annabelle Liang
Business reporter

Google has agreed to settle a US lawsuit claiming it invaded the privacy of users by
tracking them even when they were browsing in "private mode".
The class action sought at least $5bn (£3.9bn) from the world's go-to search engine and
parent company Alphabet.
Large technology firms have faced increased scrutiny of their practices in the US and
beyond.
Lawyers representing Google and its users did not immediately respond to the BBC's
requests for comment.
• What were people Googling in England this year?

• Google to pay $700m to settle antitrust lawsuit

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers put a scheduled trial for the case on hold in
California on Thursday, after lawyers said they had reached a preliminary settlement.
Judge Rogers had rejected Google's bid to have the case dismissed earlier this year,
saying she could not agree that users consented to allowing Google to collect
information on their browsing activity.

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. However, lawyers are expected to
present a formal settlement for the court's approval by February 2024.
The class action, which was filed by law firm Boies Schiller Flexner in 2020, claimed
that Google had tracked users' activity even when they set the Google Chrome browser
to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private mode".
It said this had turned Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" on user
preferences and "potentially embarrassing things".
It added that Google could not "continue to engage in the covert and unauthorized
data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone".
Google said it had been upfront about the data it collected when users viewed in
private mode, even if many users assumed otherwise.
The search engine said the collection of search history, even in private viewing mode,
helped site owners "better evaluate the performance of their content, products,
marketing and more".
Incognito mode within Google's Chrome browser gives users the choice to search the
internet without their activity being saved to the browser or device. But the websites
visited can use tools such as Google Analytics to track usage.

Google faces other lawsuits challenging its search and digital advertising practices.
Earlier this month, the technology giant said it would pay $700m to settle a lawsuit
brought by a group of US states that accused Google of quashing competition to its
Play Store on Android devices.
This came days after it lost a US court battle to Fortnite maker Epic Games. The video
game company sued Google in 2020 for unlawfully making its app store dominant
over rivals.
Google Internet privacy United States Internet

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