Google argued that they provided a sufficient disclaimer and sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, but Judge Lucy Koh disagreed on the grounds that the warning was insufficient and potentially inaccurate. Cookies and site data are remembered while you're browsing, but deleted when you exit Incognito mode.”ĭespite the explanation, the lawsuit alleges that Google is not abiding by their publicly stated policy and is instead collecting user data without their permission when they are explicitly attempting to engage in private browsing.

Chrome doesn’t save your browsing history or information entered in forms. Google Chrome’s Help Center explanation of Incognito Mode states: “When you browse privately, other people who use the device won’t see your history. In her ruling certifying the class and allowing the lawsuit to move forward, US District Judge Lucy Koh stated that Google did not inform users they would be engaging in “the alleged data collection while the user is in private browsing mode.” Incognito Mode is a privacy feature offered on Chrome. In recent years, tensions have been on the rise in regard to internet privacy policies, particularly from big tech companies who have been known to make use of user browsing data to target individuals with similar content. In 2020, three plaintiffs on behalf of all others similarly situated filed a complaint alleging that Google engaged in data tracking even when users were using Incognito Mode on Chrome, or private browsing in other search engines. This class action was originally proposed in 2020 when three users filed a complaint.

This allows Google to continue tracking and collecting user data even during supposed private browsing.

The problem arises due to the fact that many of the websites that a user may browse in Incognito mode are served by Google plug-ins such as Google Analytics and Google Ad Manager.

A class action lawsuit is approved and moving forward against tech titan Google and parent company Alphabet over allegations of secretly collecting user data even while those users are in “Incognito Mode”, which is supposed to guarantee privacy.

Google chrome incognito mode lawsuit