La browsing in incognito of Google it wasn't all that private. This significant conclusion marks the turning point of the 5 billion collective lawsuit filed against Google in 2020 in California. After 4 years of legal battle, it was concluded that Google will have to delete billions of data. These seem to have been collected in a not very transparent manner measure web traffic with the aim of sell ads highly targeted advertisers.
The agreement reached does not directly provide financial compensation. However, it allows users who feel damaged to file further lawsuits against the web giant.
The importance of this case is the creation of a precedent that risks opening a Pandora's box: «This agreement is a historic step to require dominant technology companies to be honest in their statements to users about how the companies collect and use user data, and to delete and remediate the data they collect». These the statements of David Boies, the lawyer involved in the class action.
Let's take a closer look at what it was heart of the problem and what does it consist of'agreement to close the case without further proceedings.
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The Heart of the Problem: Incognito Browsing Google was ambiguous
In fact the heart of problem it just seems like it's in the Google incognito name. Despite several well-known and visible warnings on the home page, it appears that user data was still recorded. This is why it can be said without exaggeration that Google incognito browsing was not completely private.
There is proof of it an email from Lorraine Twohill (marketing manager) to CEO Sundar Pichai: "Makes Incognito mode truly private. We're limited in how strongly we can market Incognito because it's not truly private, so it requires really confusing, cover language that almost hurts us».
This trial was a workhorse of the class action. In fact, it is quite significant that the issue was known and discussed internally.
The agreement to close is all about cookies
The lawsuit then claims that the web giant violated users' privacy and that the Incognito browsing Google both intentionally misleading.
The agreement to avoid further proceedings provides for the blocking third-party tracking cookies in Google incognito browsing for the next 5 years. To this the company responds: «We are happy to delete old technical data that has never been associated with an individual and has never been used for any form of personalization.".
A relaxing and proactive statement. Despite this already several users who have felt violated are taking advantage of the right to file further lawsuits against Google. For now there has been a turning point.
We will see further developments and we will Kilobit we will not fail to update you.
