Google has agreed to destroy billions of data records as part of a settlement in a major consumer privacy lawsuit. The settlement addresses claims that Google secretly tracked the online activity of users who believed they were browsing privately.
The terms of the settlement were filed on Monday in a federal court in Oakland, California, and are now pending approval by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. While Google is not paying direct damages, the agreement could be valued between $5 billion and $7.8 billion according to the plaintiffs' lawyers. Additionally, individual users retain the right to sue the company for further damages.
The class action lawsuit, which began in 2020, covers millions of Google users who have utilized private browsing features such as Chrome's "Incognito" mode since June 1, 2016. Plaintiffs allege that Google's analytics, cookies, and apps enabled the company to improperly monitor users, turning Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" about their personal lives, including friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and even the most intimate online searches.
Under the settlement, Google will enhance its disclosures regarding data collection during private browsing and allow Incognito users to block third-party cookies for the next five years. This change aims to reduce the amount of data Google collects from private browsing sessions, potentially decreasing the company's revenue derived from such data.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated that the company is pleased to settle the lawsuit, which it has always regarded as meritless. "We never associate data with users when they use Incognito mode," Castaneda said. "We are happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization."
David Boies, representing the plaintiffs, called the settlement "a historic step in requiring honesty and accountability from dominant technology companies." The preliminary settlement reached in December averted a scheduled trial on February 5, 2024. The plaintiffs' lawyers also plan to seek unspecified legal fees payable by Google.
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Google to destroy browsing data to settle consumer privacy lawsuit
cgtn.com
