[imagesource:google]

Google just agreed to destroy all the private search history of millions of people who used “incognito” mode in its Chrome browser.

Looks like you weren’t browsing in secret, after all, sucker.

This bombshell emerged in the settlement filed to US federal court on Monday in a case over the company’s secret tracking of web activity.

Google has always informed users of Chrome’s internet browser that “you’ve gone Incognito” and “now you can browse privately,” when the supposedly untraceable browsing option was turned on, but it was never clear what bits of data the company was harvesting.

Now, according to a 2020 class-action lawsuit, the tech giant had been scraping searches by hoovering up data about users who browsed the internet in incognito mode through advertising tools used by websites, grabbing “potentially embarrassing” searches of millions of people. NPR notes that Google then used this data to measure web traffic and sell ads.

“Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it,” wrote lawyer Mark Mao and other plaintiffs’ attorneys who sued the company.

Yikes, Big Brother has been watching all along.

“Even when users are browsing the internet in ‘private browsing mode,’ Google continues to track them,” according to the suit. “Google’s tracking occurred and continues to occur no matter how sensitive or personal users’ online activities are.”

One Google employee recommended changing the incognito splash page to say: “You are NOT protected from Google.”

Google now informs users of the limitations of its so-called “incognito mode,” which enables more private web browsing.

As the suit was pending, Google changed the splash screen of incognito mode to state that websites, employers and schools and internet service providers can view browsing activity in incognito mode. But under the deal, Google will have to state that the company itself can also track browsing during incognito mode.

Image: Google

In addition, when users are using incognito mode, Google will by default block third-party companies from tracking peoples’ so-called cookies, which is how advertisers glean information about a person’s search history.

Members of the class, comprising tens of millions of individuals who have used incognito mode while browsing, will not be entitled to any financial compensation. However, individual users retain the option to pursue legal action against Google in California state court to seek restitution for the clandestine data tracking, as per the terms of the agreement.

[source:npr]