Google to settle in lawsuit for spying in Incognito mode

Google has decided to settle a huge lawsuit where they were accused of secretly keeping an eye on what people do online. This lawsuit claimed that Google, which is part of the Alphabet company, was spying on lots of people who thought they were surfing the web in secret.

Originally, the trial was supposed to happen on February 5, 2024, but it got postponed by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. This delay happened because Google and the people suing them agreed to settle the case. At first, the lawsuit was asking for at least $5 billion in damages, according to Reuters.

The details of the settlement are still a bit mysterious, but both Google and the people who filed the lawsuit have confirmed that they made a deal during mediation. Lawyers are expected to present the official settlement to the court for approval by February 24, 2024.

So, what were the people upset about? 

Well, the people who sued Google said that the company used things like analytics, cookies, and different apps to keep track of what users were doing online. This tracking supposedly happened even when people thought they were being super sneaky by using 'Incognito' mode in Google Chrome or 'private' browsing in other browsers.

According to the people who filed the lawsuit, this made Google a sort of super-secret keeper of personal information. They claimed that Google got to know a lot about users' personal interests, activities, and even their super private searches.

Back in August, Judge Rogers said Google couldn't just dismiss the lawsuit. She pointed out that it wasn't clear if Google had promised not to collect data in private browsing mode. The judge looked at Google's privacy policies and other things the company said, suggesting there might be some limits on collecting data.

This lawsuit has been going on since 2020 and involves a bunch of Google users. The alleged violations happened between June 1, 2016, and now. Each person in the lawsuit was looking for damages of at least $5,000, claiming that Google broke federal wiretapping and California privacy laws. 

More information will be available once the official settlement is made to the court. 

Until then...

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