Google has reached a settlement to resolve a US lawsuit alleging that it violated customers' privacy by tracking them even while they were using "private mode" for their browsing. The parent business Alphabet, the world's most popular search engine, was sued for at least $5 billion.
Big internet companies are under more scrutiny in the US and abroad for their business practices.
Requests for response from the BBC were not immediately answered by solicitors for Google and its users.
On Thursday, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers postponed the case's planned trial in California following the announcement by the attorneys that they had negotiated an initial settlement.
Earlier this year, Judge Rogers denied Google's request to have the lawsuit dismissed, stating that she did not believe consumers had given their agreement for Google to gather data about their online activities.
The settlement's details remained undisclosed. Nonetheless, by February 2024, attorneys are supposed to submit a formal settlement for the court's approval.
The legal firm Boies Schiller Flexner filed the class action lawsuit in 2020, alleging that Google continued to monitor customers' activities even after they switched their other browsers to "private mode" and their Google Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode.
As a result, it was said, Google has become a "unaccountable trove of information" on user preferences and "potentially embarrassing things".
Furthermore, it stated that Google was unable to "keep up the illegal and covert data collection from almost every American with a computer or phone."
Even though many users believed differently, Google claimed to have been transparent about the data it collected when users watched in private mode.
The search engine claimed that site owners could "better evaluate the performance of their content, products, marketing and more" with the assistance of search history gathering, even in private viewing mode.
Users of Google's Chrome browser have the option to search the internet in private mode without having their activity recorded to the browser or device. However, the websites you visit can measure usage with technologies like Google Analytics.
Google is being sued again over its search and online advertising policies.
The internet behemoth announced earlier this month that it will pay $700 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by several US states alleging Google was suppressing competition for its Play Store on Android smartphones.
This occurred a few days after Fortnite creator Epic Games won a US court battle against it. The game developer sued Google in 2020, alleging that the firm had unfairly boosted its app store's dominance over competitors.
(Source:www.business-standard.com)
Big internet companies are under more scrutiny in the US and abroad for their business practices.
Requests for response from the BBC were not immediately answered by solicitors for Google and its users.
On Thursday, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers postponed the case's planned trial in California following the announcement by the attorneys that they had negotiated an initial settlement.
Earlier this year, Judge Rogers denied Google's request to have the lawsuit dismissed, stating that she did not believe consumers had given their agreement for Google to gather data about their online activities.
The settlement's details remained undisclosed. Nonetheless, by February 2024, attorneys are supposed to submit a formal settlement for the court's approval.
The legal firm Boies Schiller Flexner filed the class action lawsuit in 2020, alleging that Google continued to monitor customers' activities even after they switched their other browsers to "private mode" and their Google Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode.
As a result, it was said, Google has become a "unaccountable trove of information" on user preferences and "potentially embarrassing things".
Furthermore, it stated that Google was unable to "keep up the illegal and covert data collection from almost every American with a computer or phone."
Even though many users believed differently, Google claimed to have been transparent about the data it collected when users watched in private mode.
The search engine claimed that site owners could "better evaluate the performance of their content, products, marketing and more" with the assistance of search history gathering, even in private viewing mode.
Users of Google's Chrome browser have the option to search the internet in private mode without having their activity recorded to the browser or device. However, the websites you visit can measure usage with technologies like Google Analytics.
Google is being sued again over its search and online advertising policies.
The internet behemoth announced earlier this month that it will pay $700 million to resolve a lawsuit filed by several US states alleging Google was suppressing competition for its Play Store on Android smartphones.
This occurred a few days after Fortnite creator Epic Games won a US court battle against it. The game developer sued Google in 2020, alleging that the firm had unfairly boosted its app store's dominance over competitors.
(Source:www.business-standard.com)