Google hit with $5 billion lawsuit for allegedly tracking users’ private browsing

A proposed class-action lawsuit against Google says the internet giant invaded the privacy of millions of users.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in California says Google snooped on people’s search and browser history when they used “Incognito” mode, a private setting.

Incognito mode allows users to search the web privately, without their browsing history recorded in a similar manner as those using Google products to browse. The complaint says Google continues to collect information on what and where users search online, including intimate and embarrassing things.

Google intends to fight the lawsuit, which is seeking at least $5 billion.

“We strongly dispute these claims and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them,” said spokesman Jose Castaneda in a statement. “Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device. As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session.”

Google’s website says Incognito browsing does not prevent third-party companies from using cookies to learn about a user’s digital behavior, nor does it thwart a website from learning the user’s location or activity, or from giving the user ads based upon what they do in Incognito mode.

Google also has said that passing personally identifiable information — including email addresses and phone numbers — through Google Analytics to third parties is prohibited by the company and it takes actions against any violators.

The lawsuit reportedly seeks $5,000 in damages per user for the alleged violation of Californian privacy laws and federal wiretapping law, and the complaint estimates the number of affected users to include millions of people.

Google is facing litigation over privacy concerns in several courts nationwide. Arizona sued Google last week for allegedly deceiving users and using unfair business practices to access the users’ location data. Arizona’s complaint said Google tracked the movements of people who turned off the location tracker, and that Google confused users trying to determine how to opt-out of the location tracking.