Google Sued for $5 Billion For Tracking Users Even in Incognito Mode | GarimaShares
In a recent reveal, it was found out that Google Chrome’s incognito mode isn’t incognito in any way.
What is an incognito mode?
In Google Chrome’s incognito mode, any searches you make don’t show up in your history. But, sigh, Google still stores them.
It prevents websites from tracking you using cookies. Your browsing history doesn’t get stored and local data of the session is removed.
If you’ve been browsing adult websites on a Google Chrome “incognito” window thinking that no one knows what you’re doing, this is bad news.
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Class-action lawsuit filed against Google on June 2
A class-action lawsuit filed against the company on June 2. It claims that the internet giant illegally invades the privacy of users by tracking people in incognito mode.
The company has to pay $5 billion in damages.
Google used tracking tools like Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, including smartphone apps-to collect user data.
“Google tracks and collects consumer browsing history and other web activity data no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy,” states the complaint.
The tech giant learns about hobbies, shopping habits, and the private searches that users make on the incognito browser.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three people-Chasom Brown and Maria Nguyen, and William Byatt-in California, and while Google has faced several other lawsuits over its data collection, this one tries to use the Federal Wiretap Act.
The Act states that users have the right to sue if their private conversations are intercepted.
The lawsuit says that Google’s practices deceived consumers into believing that they maintain control of the information shared with the company.
A joint study from Microsoft, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Pennsylvania last year investigated more than 22,000 sex websites.
It showed that 93 percent of these pages tracked and leaked users’ data to third-party organizations.
Originally published at https://garimashares.com on June 6, 2020.
