Google to destroy sensitive web data to settle class action lawsuit
Kyiv • UNN
Google has agreed to delete or anonymize billions of records of data collected during private browsing sessions to settle a $5 billion lawsuit accusing it of improperly tracking users incognito.
The American company Google has agreed to delete or anonymize billions of data records to settle a lawsuit in the United States. This was reported by UNN with reference to The Hill and the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Details
Google has agreed to destroy "billions of data records" collected during private browsing sessions to settle a class action lawsuit that accused the tech giant of improperly tracking people who thought they were browsing privately.
According to a court filing on Monday, the value of the offer is five billion US dollars. This is the value of the data stored by Google that the company will have to delete, as well as the data it will no longer be allowed to collect. This 5 billion is also the amount of damages that a group of users sued Google in 2020 after they accused the company of illegally tracking their online behavior using the incognito feature.
According to a group of users, Google's analytics, cookies, and applications made it possible to track people who set their Google Chrome browser to incognito mode.
Earlier this week, Google decided to change the message that appears at the beginning of each "anonymous browsing mode" session.
As part of the agreement, Google must also allow incognito users to block third-party cookies for the next five years.
The company announced a settlement agreement that does not require any payments from the company. However, citizens retain the right to file a claim for damages under the settlement agreement.
We are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we have always believed to be without merit. Initially, the plaintiffs wanted $5 billion and received zero
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