Google to Delete Browsing Data Collected in Incognito Mode

Google has agreed to delete billions of data records it collected of millions of Chrome users while browsing in “Incognito Mode,” as part of a settlement of a June 2020 class action lawsuit.

In the case, Chasom Brown, et al. v. Google, plaintiffs accused the company of illegally tracking and logging user activity while they were using Chrome’s private browsing feature. The Google users said that they were misled by the company in believing that their activities were private and safe from surveillance.

Under the settlement, Google will need to update its disclosure regarding all data collection practices, delete private-browsing past data, implement changes to limit future data collection, and make changes to Incognito Mode third-party cookie collection.

Additionally, Google has also agreed to delete some of the data (in particular plaintiffs), including private-browsing data from December 2023 and earlier.

According to the plaintiff’s lawyers led by David Boies, the settlement is “groundbreaking,” as it stops Google from “surreptitiously collecting user data worth, by Google’s own estimates, billions of dollars.”

Moreover, it creates greater accountability for technology companies where user data is concerned. “This settlement is an historic step in requiring dominant technology companies to be honest in their representations to users about how the companies collect and employ user data, and to delete and remediate data collected.”

Google spokesperson, José Castañeda in a statement said that the company is “happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.”

Castañeda also noted that although the plaintiffs had sought $5 billion in damages, they would be “receiving zero.” Nevertheless, the settlement agreed by both parties’ state that class members can file individual lawsuits.

Despite the company’s claim that data deletion isn’t as significant as claimed in the lawsuit, a footnote in the court filing revealed Google’s unwillingness to delete the stored data. “Google claimed in the litigation that it was impossible to identify (and therefore delete) private browsing data because of how it stored data.”

The final approval of the settlement is expected to be done by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California on July 30, 2024. The settlement, if approved would require Google to delete data of 136 million account holders.