February 14, 2020
Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed in 2020 regarding its tracking of users' web-browsing activities, particularly in Chrome's "Incognito" mode.
1. The lawsuit accused Google of misleading users about the extent of data collection while using Incognito mode.
2. As part of the settlement, Google will destroy billions of data points collected improperly, update its disclosures about data collection during private browsing, and offer users the option to disable third-party cookies.
3. The settlement does not include damages for individual users but allows them to file claims. Plaintiff attorneys have already filed 50 claims in California state court.
4. Attorney David Boies, representing the consumers, described the settlement as requiring unprecedented deletion and remediation of improperly collected data.
5. This settlement is significant as it forces Google to retroactively delete valuable user data, a rare outcome in legal challenges against tech giants.
6. The settlement awaits final approval from a federal judge in California.
7. Internal exchanges revealed Google executives' discussions about the company's disclosures on private browsing, with concerns raised about the term "private" being misleading.
8. Google will rewrite its disclosures regarding private browsing data collection and implement changes to Incognito mode to allow users to block third-party cookies by default.
9. The agreement also mandates Google to maintain these changes for five years and eliminate tracking software from Chrome by the end of the year.
10. The court granted class certification for injunctive relief but not for financial damages, requiring affected users to file lawsuits individually. Boies Schiller and Morgan & Morgan plan to file more individual lawsuits in the coming months.