Google has agreed to erase browsing data to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit

Google will destroy a large cache of consumer data to settle a lawsuit that claimed the Chrome web search engine was tracking incognito users.

The settlement, which is valued between $5 billion and $7.8 billion, was hashed out in Oakland, California, federal court, Reuters reported. The lawsuit began in 2020, spanning over 136 million consumers using the Chrome web browser since June 1, 2016.

The lawsuit argued that Google was illegally surveilling consumers by misleading Chrome users in incognito mode into believing their data was private. As part of the settlement, Google is not paying any damages. However, individual users may sue the tech company individually for damages.

“This settlement is an 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,” the settlement said.

In addition to destroying consumer data, the settlement also demands that Google change incognito mode to block third-party cookies by default for the next five years. Additionally, Google must update its disclosures to inform users what the search engine collects in private browsing data.

“The result is that Google will collect less data from users’ private browsing sessions, and that Google will make less money from the data,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote in the settlement.

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U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the company’s request to throw out the case in August before a settlement was formed at the end of last year. Rogers will approve the settlement terms on July 30 in Oakland.