A consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations Google tracked users who thought they were browsing the internet privately has been settled. No terms have been disclosed.
The”incognito” mode on Google’s Chrome browser still followed users, as emails revealed during the trial proved. The data was used to sell ads.
The judge in the case confirmed a preliminary agreement to settle the class action lawsuit, originally filed in 2020.
Lawyers were seeking at least $5,000 for each member of the class that had been tracked by the firm’s Google Analytics or Ad Manager services while not logged into their Google account.
The settlement came just weeks after Google was refused a request that the case be decided by a judge. A California jury trial was set to begin next year.
“Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it,” the orignal court papers claimed.
A formal settlement is expected for court approval by February 24, 2024.