Google faces a $ 5 billion lawsuit for claims that its Chrome browser tracks users even when they use “Incognito” mode.
A U.S. district judge ruled last week that a class action suit, opened in June 2020, against Google’s Incognito crawling mode, could proceed after Google failed to cancel the lawsuit.
The crux of the process is that when a user chooses Incognito mode in the Chrome browser, Google continues to track user activity. This, the suit says, violates federal wiretapping laws.
Underlying the legal action is the claim that if you choose incognito mode, the assumption is that browsing is kept private.
Google faces a $ 5 billion lawsuit for claims that its Chrome browser tracks users even when they use “Incognito” mode.
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“We vehemently contested these allegations and will defend ourselves vigorously against them,” Google spokesman José Castañeda told Fox News in a statement.
“Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the option to browse the Internet without saving your activity on your browser or device. As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites can collect information about your browsing activity during your session, “said Castañeda of Google.
The process goes on to state, “Through its extensive data-tracking business, Google knows who your friends are, what your hobbies are, what you like to eat, what movies you watch, where and when you like to shop, what your favorite vacation destinations are, what your favorite color is and even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things you surf the internet on – regardless of whether you follow Google’s advice to keep your activities ‘private’. “
Google’s crawling is done through GoogleAnalytics, Google Ad Manager and other app and website plug-ins, such as Google apps on mobile devices and the Google sign-in button for websites, the process says.
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What incognito mode really is and is not:
When you select incognito mode in the Google browser, none of your browsing history data, cookies and website data or information entered into forms is saved to your device, according to a Google Chrome help page that covers incognito mode.
As a result, your activity does not appear in the Chrome browser’s history and sites cannot identify you as long as you don’t sign in, says Google.
The crux of the process is that when a user chooses Incognito mode in the Chrome browser, Google continues to track user activity.
But Google also explains what incognito mode does not do.
This will not prevent a website from identifying you if you sign in. “If you enter any website in incognito mode, that website will know that you are the one who is browsing and will be able to follow your activities from that moment on.” the Google help page says.
Google goes on to explain that incognito mode does not prevent your activity or location from being visible to “websites you visit, your school, employer or your Internet service provider”.
In addition, it will not prevent sites that you visit from serving ads based on your activity during an anonymous session.
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“What this means is that when browsers connect to Facebook, Gmail or anywhere else using a private window, these sites really know about it,” said Daniel Markuson, a specialist in digital privacy at the virtual private network service provider. NordVPN, to Fox News.
“And it will not protect you from being monitored by your ISP, marketers and even the government if they decide to spy on you,” said Markuson.
“We believe the question should be … about Google’s ability and willingness to provide people with tools to really control their privacy. With Google around us, it is almost impossible for anyone to find out which Chrome browser, Google account or settings Android phone privacy, you need to tinker [with] catch up [that] objective, “NordVPN product strategist Vykintas Maknickas told Fox News.