Google promises to erase the data collected in Chrome’s incognito tab

Google has set out to delete or de-characterize data collected in the Chrome browser’s incognito mode. The decision, announced on Monday (1st), is part of the process in which the company was convicted of monitoring user activity using the incognito tab. If Google’s proposal is approved by the California courts, in the United States, almost 140 million users will benefit from the decision.

Late last year, Google agreed to pay a $5 billion fine for surveilling users even in the incognito tab. Simplifying and summarizing the process, the case of big tech closely resembles false advertising. Shortly after the repercussion of the case, whose lawsuit was filed in 2020, Google began to inform in anonymous mode that some data could be collected.

Google stated on the home screen of the incognito window that it did not save browsing data. However, big tech tracked and recorded users’ activities. With this data, the company managed information for Google Ads, which allowed it to deliver targeted ads to users.

The official amount of the fine is US$ 5 billion
In December 2023, Google accepted a settlement to settle the lawsuit. With this, the big tech will pay a fine of US$ 5 billion (R$ 25 billion) for violating California’s legislation on privacy and telematics tapping. Class action plaintiffs may seek damages for damages. To date, 50 people have already asked for this compensation.

According to a Google spokesperson, the data collected during incognito browsing was not associated with users — which contradicts the information that 136 million accounts were affected. Another part of the agreement requires big tech to allow, for a period of five years, the blocking of third-party cookies to be enabled by default in incognito mode. This prevents Google from tracking the activities of Chrome users in this mode.