Google must face online privacy lawsuit alleging data tracking continues even with Chrome’s Incognito mode

A class-action lawsuit putting Google Chrome under scrutiny will proceed despite the company’s initial efforts to quash it. Plaintiffs alleged that Google’s browser continued to track and collect their data even when they enabled the Incognito mode.

Class action lawsuit scrutinizes Google’s Chrome Incognito mode

Bloomberg reported that a federal judge has ruled on Friday that Google and its parent company Alphabet will go to trial over a class action lawsuit throwing doubts on the Chrome browser’s privacy settings. The complaint, which was submitted last June, accuses Google continues to track browsing data even when users opted to use the “private browsing mode” -- simply known as Incognito mode -- on the Chrome browser.

The plaintiffs further alleged that Google’s practices “intentionally deceive” users. They also claimed that Google has proceeded to track and collect data on their browsing history and other web activities “no matter what safeguards” the complainants used to protect their privacy online.

Two of the complainants specifically pointed to several instances in 2016 when they used Chrome’s Incognito mode Android and Apple devices. At the time the lawsuit was filed, the plaintiffs noted that they have since been made aware that their online activities were still tracked “via various Google-branded software and services.” Part of the lawsuit reads, “Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it.”

The lawsuit will push through, as the court decided, shortly after Google announced its game-changing tweaks in data collection policies. The company previously announced that it will stop the use of third-party cookies. Google also confirmed that it does not intend to develop a replacement.

What to know about the Google Chrome Incognito mode

The Google Chrome feature under scrutiny, the Incognito mode, promises to let users “browse privately.” Activating this mode tells the browser not to collect browsing history, cookies, other site data, and information placed when filling up online forms. However, the Incognito mode is far from using a VPN when browsing online.

Google Chrome in Incognito mode

In its current version, the Chrome Incognito mode’s opening page reminds users that they “might still be visible” even when Incognito is activated. Unlike VPNs, Incognito mode does not mask the user’s IP address. This means their activities can still be viewed by the websites they open, their internet service provider, and their employers or schools if they connect through their network.

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