Google To Face Class-Action Lawsuit Over Tracking, Collecting Users’ Data In ‘Incognito’ Mode  

In a key decision, a US judge ordered Google to face a class action lawsuit filed for $ 5 billion. The tech giant tracks and collects data even when users use the private “Incognito” mode on their Chrome browser.

District Judge Lucy Koh in California ruled that Google “has not informed users that Google is involved in the alleged data collection while the user is in private browsing mode,” reports Bloomberg.

A Google spokesman told The Verge on Saturday that the company is denying claims in the lawsuit.

“We will vigorously defend ourselves against them,” the spokesman was quoted as saying in the report.

In Google Chrome’s incognito mode, users can surf the Internet without their activities being saved in the browser or on devices.

“As we clearly state every time you open a new incognito tab, websites may collect information about your browsing activity during your session,” repeated Google.

Chrome users filed a complaint in the US last June claiming that Google has “an ubiquitous data-tracking business.”

They alleged in the lawsuit that “tracking persists even when users take steps to protect their private information, such as incognito mode in Chrome or private browsing in Safari and other browsers.”

Google has already announced that it will expire third-party cookies from the Chrome browser.

The company announced earlier this month that once third-party cookies expire, their platforms will not create and use alternative identifiers to track people while they browse the internet.

Google Chrome announced last year that it would remove support for third-party cookies.

Third-party cookies have been blocked in Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox, and Google wants to do the same in Chrome as well. Cookies allow advertisers to track you as you switch between different websites.

Comments are closed.