Google agrees to destroy browsing data to settle consumer privacy lawsuit

Google to Settle Lawsuit by , Destroying Billions of Private Browsing Records. In 2020, Google was sued by numerous users who claimed that the tech giant secretly tracked their internet use despite browsing in Chrome's incognito mode. The plaintiffs claim that this allowed Google to be an "unaccountable trove of information," 'The Guardian' reports. To settle the lawsuit, Google has agreed to destroy billions of private records. The company will also update its "private" browsing disclosures. . Additionally, incognito users will be able to "block third-party cookies for five years," 'The Guardian' reports. The result is that Google will collect less data from users’ private browsing sessions, and that Google will make less money from the data, Plaintiffs' lawyer, via 'The Guardian'. While Google supports the settlement, it does not agree with the "legal and factual characterizations" put forth by the plaintiffs. We are limited in how strongly we can market Incognito because it’s not truly private, thus requiring really fuzzy, hedging language that is almost more damaging. , Google’s chief marketing officer, Lorraine Twohill, wrote to the CEO, Sundar Pichai, in 2019, via 'The Guardian'. A lawyer for the plaintiffs called the agreement "a historic step in requiring honesty and accountability from dominant technology companies.". While plaintiffs will not receive damages as part of this settlement, they could still sue individually to be monetarily compensated.