Google has reached a settlement for a $5 billion lawsuit accusing the company of monitoring the online activity of individuals who used the “incognito” mode on its Chrome browser, as well as similar privacy modes on other browsers.

The 2020 lawsuit claimed that Google deceived users by giving them the impression that their internet activities would not be tracked when using incognito mode. It alleged that Google’s advertising methods and other tactics still collected information about users’ website visits and actions, even though they were supposedly browsing in a “private” manner.

The plaintiffs alleged that Google’s actions resulted in a large amount of information being collected about users who believed they had taken precautions to safeguard their privacy.

A federal judge must still approve the settlement, which was reached on Thursday. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the lawsuit initially requested $5 billion on behalf of users. The plaintiffs’ lawyers stated that they anticipate presenting a final settlement agreement to the court by February 24th.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the settlement.

Source: wral.com