Google faces $5 billion lawsuit for spying on users in private mode

Google will face a $5 billion action lawsuit after they failed to dismiss the lawsuit, which claims that Google secretly gathers information from its users while they are browsing using their private “Incognito” mode on the internet. Incognito mode, as Google refers to it, is a private browsing mode in Google Chrome that allows users to browse the internet without their activity being saved on the browser or the device.

A group of users filed this lawsuit, alleging that Google has a “pervasive data tracking business” and continues to collect data on users’ web activities and browser history even when users choose to secure themselves by using the private “Incognito” mode in their Google Chrome or Safari browsers.

According to the complainants, “Google knows who your friends are, what your hobbies are, what you like to eat, what movies you watch, where and where you like to shop, what your favorite vacation destinations are, what your favorite color is, and even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things you browse on the internet regardless of whether you follow Google’s advise to keep your activities private”.

However, in their court filing, lawyers for the tech giants stated that “Google also makes clear that “Incognito” does not mean ‘invisible’, and that the user’s activity during that session may be visible to websites they visit, and any third-party analytics or ads services the visited websites use”.

Judge Lucy Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose presided over the case and wrote in her ruling that, “The court concludes that Google did not notify users that Google engages in the alleged data collection while the user is in private browsing mode”.

That being said, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in an email to The Verge that “we strongly dispute these claims and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them”. He added that. “Incognito mode in chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity saved to your browser or device. 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”.

Don’t forget to leave all your questions in the comment box. Tech Hub Gh Team.

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