Big Tech
Google Agrees to Delete Web Browsing Data as It Settles ‘Incognito’ Lawsuit
Search giant will expunge “billions” of data records
Photo illustration of Google’s incognito browsing mode
Photographer: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
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Google said it would delete millions of records of users’ browsing activities as part of a settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged it tracked people without their knowledge.
The case, filed in 2020, alleged the Alphabet Inc. unit surreptitiously collected data from people using its popular Chrome web browser in a private “incognito” browsing mode. While that function lets users turn off data collection when using the Chrome browser, other Google tools used by websites, such as advertising technology, scoop up their data anyway, according to the suit.