Google has agreed to pay $5 billion as part of a settlement in a lawsuit concerning illegal monitoring of user actions in the “incognito” mode in its Chrome browser. In response, the company has updated the description of the Incognito mode to reflect previously undisclosed data collection practices. The update was discovered in the latest version of Canary Google Chrome 122.0.6251.0, according to reports by the mspoweruser portal.
A collective lawsuit was filed against Google in 2020, seeking $5 billion in damages for collecting user data through its services while in Incognito mode. Google defended itself by stating that data collection still occurs on websites even in the “incognito” mode, although this was not mentioned in the mode’s description.
The comparison of the previous and updated descriptions of “Incognito” reveals the changes made. The new version now states, “Other users of this device will not see your activity, so you can view pages more confidentially. However, this will not affect the collection of data by the websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Loading, bookmarks, and elements of the reading list will still be saved.”
The previous version stated, “Your actions in incognito mode will be inaccessible to other users of this device. However, bookmarks, downloaded files, and objects from the reading list will be saved.”
A Google representative claims that the updated description provides users with even more information about the incognito mode. The representative added that the Incognito mode prevents the preservation of information about the user’s actions on their device.
Previously, Google referred to the description of the Incognito mode as evidence that the company informs users about possible tracking methods even in Incognito mode. However, the court did not accept this argument and rejected Google’s petition for a summary judgment. In December, Google reached an agreement with the plaintiffs, with the conditions for the settlement set to be submitted to the court in January and the final statement expected by the end of February.