Google to destroy browsing data to settle consumer privacy lawsuit
The terms of the settlement were filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Google has agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the Internet usage of people it believed were browsing privately.
The terms of the settlement were filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs valued the deal at more than $5 billion, with a maximum of $7.8 billion. Google has not paid any damages, but users could file individual lawsuits against the company for damages.
The class action lawsuit began in 2020 and targets millions of Google users who used private browsing after June 1, 2016.
Users say Google's analytics, cookies and apps allowed the Alphabet unit to improperly track people who set Google's Chrome browser to “incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode. He claimed that
They say this will allow Google to learn about their friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and “the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” people are searching for online, making it “a treasure trove of unexplainable information.” ”.
Under the settlement, Google will update its disclosures about what it collects during “private” browsing, a process that has already begun. Also, a secret user will be able to block third-party cookies for her five years.
“As a result, Google would collect less data from users' private browsing sessions, and the profits Google would derive from that data would also be reduced,” the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote.
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company was pleased to settle the lawsuit, which it always considered moot.
“When a user uses Incognito mode, we never associate their data,” Castaneda says. “We are happy to delete obsolete technical data that is not associated with an individual or used for any form of personalization.”
David Boies, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the settlement is “an historic step in demanding honesty and accountability from powerful technology companies.”
A preliminary settlement was reached in December, avoiding a trial scheduled for February 5, 2024. Terms were not disclosed at the time. Plaintiffs' lawyers will now ask Google to pay unspecified legal costs.
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The terms of the settlement were filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Google has agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the Internet usage of people it believed were browsing privately.
The terms of the settlement were filed Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs valued the deal at more than $5 billion, with a maximum of $7.8 billion. Google has not paid any damages, but users could file individual lawsuits against the company for damages.
The class action lawsuit began in 2020 and targets millions of Google users who used private browsing after June 1, 2016.
Users say Google's analytics, cookies and apps allowed the Alphabet unit to improperly track people who set Google's Chrome browser to “incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode. He claimed that
They say this will allow Google to learn about their friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and “the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” people are searching for online, making it “a treasure trove of unexplainable information.” ”.
Under the settlement, Google will update its disclosures about what it collects during “private” browsing, a process that has already begun. Also, a secret user will be able to block third-party cookies for her five years.
“As a result, Google would collect less data from users' private browsing sessions, and the profits Google would derive from that data would also be reduced,” the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote.
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the company was pleased to settle the lawsuit, which it always considered moot.
“When a user uses Incognito mode, we never associate their data,” Castaneda says. “We are happy to delete obsolete technical data that is not associated with an individual or used for any form of personalization.”
David Boies, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the settlement is “an historic step in demanding honesty and accountability from powerful technology companies.”
A preliminary settlement was reached in December, avoiding a trial scheduled for February 5, 2024. Terms were not disclosed at the time. Plaintiffs' lawyers will now ask Google to pay unspecified legal costs.
https://www.thenewworldreport.com/google-to-destroy-browsing-data-to-settle-consumer-privacy-lawsuit/ Google to destroy browsing data to settle consumer privacy lawsuit
