In 2020, a class action lawsuit was filed against Google by account holders who claimed the company was illegally tracking their behavior through the “Incognito” private browsing feature. Now, Google has agreed to either destroy or anonymize billions of records of web browsing data collected while users were in Incognito mode. If approved by a federal judge in California, the settlement could impact 136 million Google users.
Google will have to handle data collected in private browsing mode until December 2023 and any data that is not explicitly deleted will have to be made anonymous. The proposed settlement, valued at $5 billion, includes calculations for the data Google will have to destroy and the data it will be barred from collecting in the future. However, Google spokesperson José Castañeda expressed satisfaction with resolving the lawsuit and emphasized that plaintiffs would not receive any damages from the settlement despite its valuation of $5 billion.
The plaintiffs praised the settlement for providing real accountability and transparency from one of the largest data collectors, stating that it marks an important step towards enforcing privacy rights on the internet. Individuals can still file damages claims in California state court under the terms of the settlement with 50 requests already submitted. The settlement does not provide damages to the class as a whole but individuals have the opportunity to file claims. Overall, this settlement signifies a significant step in addressing privacy concerns and data collection practices on
