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Alphabet Inc.’s Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the Internet usage of millions of people who thought they were browsing privately.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, Calif., announced Thursday that Google and consumer lawyers have reached a tentative settlement, resulting in a proposed class action lawsuit scheduled for February 5, 2024. The trial was suspended.
The lawsuit sought at least $5 billion. Terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, but the lawyers plan to reach a binding agreement through mediation and present a formal settlement proposal for court approval by February 24, 2024. Stated.
Neither Google nor attorneys for the plaintiff consumers immediately responded to requests for comment.
Plaintiffs say Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps allow them to track Alphabet’s activities even when Google’s Chrome browser is set to “incognito” mode and other browsers are set to “private” browsing mode. he claimed.
They tell the company about the friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and “potentially embarrassing things” they’re looking for online, turning Google into what he calls a “treasure trove of unexplainable information.” he claimed.
Rogers in August was denied Google is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed.
He said it was an open question whether Google had made a legally binding promise not to collect data on users when they browsed in private mode. The judge cited Google’s privacy policy and other statements from the company suggesting limits on the information it collects.
The lawsuit, filed in 2020, targets “millions” of Google users since June 1, 2016 and charges damages of at least $5,000 per user for violations of the Federal Wiretap Act and the California Privacy Act. They asked for compensation.
The case is Brown et al. v. Google LLC et al., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 20-03664.
