Google has reached an agreement to erase a substantial amount of search data to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it monitored millions of US users under the guise of private internet browsing.
If a settlement proposal submitted in San Francisco federal court on Monday receives approval from a judge, Google will be required to “delete and/or address billions of data records” associated with individuals using Chrome’s incognito mode, as outlined in court documents.
“This settlement represents a significant milestone in holding dominant technology firms accountable for their transparency regarding how they gather and utilize user data, and for addressing and eliminating collected data,” stated attorney David Boies in the filing.
A hearing is scheduled for July 30 before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will determine whether to ratify the agreement, allowing Google to avoid a trial in the class-action lawsuit.
While the settlement does not involve monetary damages, it provides Chrome users who believe they were wronged with the option to individually sue Google for compensation.
Originally filed in June 2020, the lawsuit sought damages of at least $5 billion.
“We are content to resolve this lawsuit, which we have always regarded as baseless,” remarked Google spokesperson Jorge Castaneda in a statement.
“We are willing to eliminate outdated technical data that was never linked to a specific individual and was never utilized for personalization purposes.”
The lawsuit targeted the “Incognito Mode” in the Chrome browser, which plaintiffs argued misled users into believing their online activities were not being tracked by the Silicon Valley tech giant.
Internal Google communications revealed during the lawsuit indicated that users utilizing incognito mode were indeed being monitored by the search and advertising powerhouse to track web traffic and facilitate ad sales.
The settlement mandates that Google block third-party tracking “cookies” by default in Incognito Mode for the next five years.
Third-party cookies are small files used for targeted advertising by monitoring web activity, typically placed by visited websites rather than the browser itself.
Google had begun restricting third-party cookies earlier this year for certain Chrome browser users, a preliminary move towards phasing out these files, which have raised privacy concerns.
In January 2020, Google announced plans to eliminate third-party cookies within two years, but the implementation has faced delays due to opposition from web media publishers.
Cookies have become subject to increased regulation, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation introduced in 2016 and state-level regulations such as those in California.
