Google Settles $5 Billion Consumer Privacy Lawsuit

Alphabet's Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were browsing privately, as reported by Jonathan Stempel for Reuters.

The plaintiffs alleged that Google's analytics, cookies, and apps allowed the Alphabet unit to track their activity even when they set Google's Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put a scheduled trial on February 5, 2024, in the proposed class action on hold on Thursday after lawyers for Google and for consumers said they had reached a preliminary settlement.

The lawsuit had sought at least $5 billion.

Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawyers said they have agreed to a binding term sheet through mediation and are expected to present a formal settlement for court approval by February 24, 2024.

The plaintiffs alleged that Google's analytics, cookies, and apps allowed the Alphabet unit to track their activity even when they set Google's Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode.

They said this turned Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" by letting the company learn about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and "potentially embarrassing things" they seek out online.

In August, Rogers rejected Google's bid to dismiss the lawsuit.

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