According to the lawsuit, Chrome’s “Incognito” mode was not as private as users were led to believe; Google has since informed users of this with a new tagline for the browser.
Within the Incognito mode of the Chrome browser, Google has added a new disclaimer that addresses the user’s loss of privacy, or lack of privacy in general. When users with an experimental version of Chrome launch an Incognito window, they are now met with a message that clarifies which parts of their browsing data will not be saved and which parts of their information will still be visible to Google.
According to a report by MSPowerUser, the disclaimer states that “others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately.” This allows you to access the internet in greater privacy. The manner in which websites that you visit and the services that they employ, including Google, collect data will not be altered as a result of this. You will be able to save your bookmarks, reading list items, and downloads here.
It is more difficult to understand Chrome’s “old” disclaimer, which is still visible to the majority of users at the moment. You are now able to browse in complete privacy, and other users of this device will not be able to observe your activities, as the message states. It is important to note that downloads, bookmarks, and things on reading lists will be preserved.
It is precisely this ambiguity that resulted in a class action lawsuit against Google in the amount of $5 billion in the year 2020. The plaintiffs claimed that Incognito deceived users into believing that their action on the internet was completely private, when in reality, Incognito enables websites, Internet service providers (ISPs), and Google itself to monitor what users have been doing on the internet. The attorneys for the plaintiffs said that Google had even broken federal and state wiretapping laws by collecting data from browser sessions that were conducted in the Incognito mode.
Although it should not come as a surprise, Google did all in its power to get the lawsuit dismissed. The firm made a request to have the complaint dismissed, stating that it had in fact informed users about the vulnerabilities in Incognito’s confidentiality; nevertheless, a federal judge denied the company’s request and allowed the complaint to proceed. In late 2022, court documents revealed that staff and executives of Google were aware of the shortcomings of Incognito and considered the “Spy Guy” logo associated with the mode to be a liability. The chief marketing officer of the tech company even attempted to make Incognito “truly private” in order to prevent people from being confused, but their advice was disregarded.
It is now Google that is paying the price. In December of 2023, the business reached an agreement to distribute a settlement of $5 billion at the beginning of 2024. Even though a court has until February 24 to give his approval to the settlement, Google has already begun working to avert similar complaints by modifying the greeting language that appears while using the Incognito mode. The new disclaimer is currently only visible to users of Canary, which is Google’s “early-release, experimental version of Chrome” targeted for developers. However, the fact that it is even available on Canary is a promising indicator that it may soon be available on mainstream Chrome.