Google agrees to settle Chrome incognito mode lawsuit in US

Google has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in the US over its Chrome browser’s incognito mode.

The lawsuit was filed in 2020, alleging that the tech giant “track, collect, and identify browsing data in real time” even when the users open incognito mode.

Now, Google and the plaintiffs have agreed to terms that will result in the litigation being dismissed, reports Ars Technica.

The February 5th trial date is now off and the parties present a formal agreement for court approval within the next 60 days.

“Through mediation facilitated by the Layn R. Phillips, Plaintiffs and Google have agreed to a binding term sheet that would resolve the claims in this litigation, pending the Court’s approval,” the judgement read.

The lawsuit was filed by Florida resident William Byatt and California residents Chasom Brown and Maria Nguyen.

The lawsuit also alleged that websites using Google Analytics or Ad Manager collected information from browsers in Incognito mode, “including web page content, device data, and IP address”.

The plaintiffs also accused Google of taking Chrome users’ private browsing activity and then associating it with their already-existing user profiles.

In August, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in a California court denied Google’s push for summary judgment in the lawsuit, which claimed the tech giant is tracking and collecting data even when people use the private ‘Incognito’ mode on its Chrome browser.

Google Chrome’s ‘Incognito’ mode gives users the choice to browse the internet without their activities being saved to either browser or devices.

However, the judge pointed to statements in the Chrome privacy notice, Privacy Policy, Incognito Splash Screen, and Search & Browse Privately Help page about how incognito mode limits the information stored or how people can control the information they share.