\n
![](\"https:\/\/readwrite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pawel-czerwinski-fpZZEV0uQwA-unsplash-900x600.jpg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Google has committed to destroying or remediating \u2018billions of data records\u2019 collected through incognito browsing sessions as part of a proposed class action settlement filed Monday (April 1).<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, originally filed in June of 2020, accuses the search giant of violating California privacy laws in collecting Incognito mode data.<\/p>\n
In the proposed settlement in Brown v. Google<\/a>, the technology company will have to rewrite the disclosure to inform users that private browsing data is collected from these sessions.<\/p>\n Plaintiffs have also demanded and \u2018secured accountability and relief for Google\u2019s past conduct<\/a>.\u2019 On approval of the settlement, the data records must be deleted or remediated.<\/p>\n For the next five years, Google must \u2018also maintain a change to Incognito mode that enables Incognito users to block third-party cookies by default.\u2019<\/p>\n Third-party cookies are small files that are tracked by websites other than the one you are on, connecting your browsing activity across different websites and allowing advertisers to run targeted ads.<\/p>\n The settlement must be approved by a judge and then the above changes will have to come into action.<\/p>\n \u201cThis settlement is a 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,\u201d the filing, submitted by the plaintiffs\u2019 attorneys, reads.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Casta\u00f1eda, a Google spokesperson, said: \u201cWe are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless,\u201d the statement goes on: \u201cThe plaintiffs originally wanted $5 billion and are receiving zero.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never associate data with users when they use Incognito mode\u2026We are happy to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.\u201d<\/p>\n Google isn\u2019t the first to come under fire for how data is handled, with Meta, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon all having been hit with data mismanagement lawsuits over the last few years.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of the reasons why concerns around TikTok<\/a> have arisen, with worries the Chinese-owned company could collect sensitive user data of U.S. residents. TikTok has said they don\u2019t hold U.S. data in China, but in Singapore and in the U.S. where it is routed through cloud infrastructure operated by the American company Oracle.<\/p>\n Featured image: Photo by Pawel Czerwinski<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nData and Big Tech<\/b><\/h2>\n