Google, a division of Alphabet, has consented to resolve a lawsuit alleging that it surreptitiously monitored the internet activity of millions of users who believed they were browsing in private.
A trial in the proposed class action was slated for February 5, 2024, but U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, postponed it on Thursday after Google and consumer advocates announced they had reached a preliminary deal.
At least $5 billion was requested in the complaint. Although the plaintiffs had their Chrome browser set to “Incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode, they claimed that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps allowed the Alphabet entity to track their activities.
The firm was able to learn about their acquaintances, interests, favorite meals, shopping patterns, and “potentially embarrassing things” they looked up online, they claimed, turning Google into a “unaccountable trove of information”.
The 2020 lawsuit, which was filed for infringement of federal wiretapping statutes and California privacy laws, requested at least $5,000 in damages per user for “millions” of Google users since June 1, 2016.
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. 20-03664; Brown et al. v. Google LLC & al.
