Google promises to delete all the user data collected in Incognito mode

A class-action lawsuit launched against Google is forcing the company to promise to delete all of the data it collected through its Incognito web browser.

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The lawsuit was filed back in 2020 and required Google to pay $5 billion in damages, but according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Google has decided to instead destroy "billions of data points" it improperly collected. Additionally, the company has said it will update its data collection disclosures and maintain a setting that prevents Chrome's third-party cookies by default for the next five years.

The lawsuit alleged that Google misled Chrome users by telling them its Incognito browser was private despite it still monitoring user activity, which Google pushed back on, saying it informed users that Incognito didn't mean "invisible" and that sites were still able to see their activity. The lawsuit levied federal wiretapping and California privacy laws and asked for $5,000 in damages per user for the alleged offenses. In 2021, Judge Lucy Koh concluded that Google "did not notify" users that the company was still collecting user data in Incognito mode.