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The lawsuit was filed back in 2020, but only now the company is ready to compromise.
Google is ready to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by users back in 2020. The lawsuit was related to the "Incognito" mode in the Chrome browser and its questionable rules. The plaintiffs accused Google of continuing to "track, collect, and analyze real-time web browsing data" in spite of everything.
Florida resident William Byatt and California residents Chas Brown and Maria Nguyen claim that the corporation violates privacy laws. According to the plaintiffs, sites using Google Analytics or Ad Manager processed information from browsers in "Incognito" mode, including the content of web pages, device data and IP addresses. The lawsuit also says that Google still links users ' activity to their real profiles.
Google initially sought to dismiss the claim, pointing out the warning that is displayed when you enable Incognito mode in Chrome. The system allegedly notifies users that their activity "may be visible to the websites they visit."
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in August rejected Google's attempt to obtain a court order without considering the case, noting that in fact Google did not inform anyone that data collection was continuing, even on such a large scale.
"Google claims that the plaintiffs themselves consented to the collection of their data while using the private browsing mode," Judge Rogers said. "However, given that the company did not inform users about this directly, the court cannot claim that there was an unequivocal consent given."
According to the notice filed on December 26, Google and the plaintiffs reached a compromise that will lead to the termination of the legal proceedings. The agreement will be submitted to the court by the end of January, with a final decision expected by the end of February.
Google is ready to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by users back in 2020. The lawsuit was related to the "Incognito" mode in the Chrome browser and its questionable rules. The plaintiffs accused Google of continuing to "track, collect, and analyze real-time web browsing data" in spite of everything.
Florida resident William Byatt and California residents Chas Brown and Maria Nguyen claim that the corporation violates privacy laws. According to the plaintiffs, sites using Google Analytics or Ad Manager processed information from browsers in "Incognito" mode, including the content of web pages, device data and IP addresses. The lawsuit also says that Google still links users ' activity to their real profiles.
Google initially sought to dismiss the claim, pointing out the warning that is displayed when you enable Incognito mode in Chrome. The system allegedly notifies users that their activity "may be visible to the websites they visit."
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in August rejected Google's attempt to obtain a court order without considering the case, noting that in fact Google did not inform anyone that data collection was continuing, even on such a large scale.
"Google claims that the plaintiffs themselves consented to the collection of their data while using the private browsing mode," Judge Rogers said. "However, given that the company did not inform users about this directly, the court cannot claim that there was an unequivocal consent given."
According to the notice filed on December 26, Google and the plaintiffs reached a compromise that will lead to the termination of the legal proceedings. The agreement will be submitted to the court by the end of January, with a final decision expected by the end of February.
