Google accused of tracking users in 'Incognito' mode, lawsuit pending
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San Francisco - In a significant ruling, a judge in the US has directed Google to face a class-action lawsuit seeking $5 billion, that claimed the tech giant is tracking and collecting data even when people use the private 'Incognito' mode on its Chrome browser. District Judge Lucy Koh in the state of California ruled that Google "did not notify users that Google engages in the alleged data collection while the user is in private browsing mode", reports Bloomberg. A Google spokesperson told The Verge on Saturday that the company disputes the lawsuit's claims. "We will defend ourselves vigorously against them," the spokesperson was quoted as saying in the report. Google Chrome's 'Incognito' mode gives users choice to browse the internet without their activities being saved to either browser or devices.
"As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session," Google reiterated.
The Chrome users filed a complaint in the US in June last year, claiming that Google has a "pervasive data tracking business".
They alleged in the lawsuit that the "tracking persists even if users take steps to protect their private information, such as using incognito mode in Chrome, or private browsing in Safari and other browsers".
On its part, Google has already announced to phase out third-party cookies from Chrome browser.
The company said earlier this month that once third-party cookies are phased out from its platforms, it will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will it use them in its products.
Google Chrome had announced its intent to remove support for third-party cookies last year.
Third-party cookies have been blocked in Apple Safari and Mozilla Firefox and Google aims to do the same in Chrome. The cookies allow advertisers to track you as you move between various websites.
lunaticneko on March 14th, 2021 at 13:57 UTC »
Isn't incognito just a "no history, no cookies" sandbox mode? I usually use it actually to facilitate a second login to productivity suites so I can use both my home and office accounts concurrently.
jess-sch on March 14th, 2021 at 08:45 UTC »
Did... the judge not read the first page that is shown when you open an incognito tab? You know, with the warning about how websites can still track you, and that it's only the browser itself that doesn't save anything?
I'm sorry, but I'm not sure you can claim not to have been warned when you literally cannot open an incognito tab without seeing the warning.
Ealdwritere on March 14th, 2021 at 08:37 UTC »
I was under the impression that incognito mode only stopped the browser from logging browsing history on the users end. It didn't actually stop tracking or conceal a user's identity to the internet. It was more a method to stop your wife busting your porn habits than an anti tracking option.