Google agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of people who thought they were browsing privately.
Terms of the settlement were filed on Monday in the Oakland,
California federal court, and require approval by U.S. District Judge Yvonne
Gonzalez Rogers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs valued the accord at more than $5
billion, and as high as $7.8 billion. Though users will not receive damages,
they may still sue individually for damages.
The class action began in 2020, covering millions of Google
users who used private browsing since June 1, 2016.
Users alleged that Google's analytics, cookies and apps let
the Alphabet unit improperly track people who set Google's Chrome browser to
"Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing
mode.
They said this turned Google into an "unaccountable
trove of information" by letting it learn about their friends, favorite
foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and the "most intimate and potentially
embarrassing things" they hunt for online.
Under the settlement, Google will update disclosures about
what it collects in "private" browsing, a process it has already
begun. It will also let Incognito users block third-party cookies for five
years.
"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.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to court papers, Google supports final approval of
the settlement but disagrees with the plaintiffs' "legal and factual
characterizations."
David Boies, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, in a statement
called the settlement "a historic step in requiring honesty and
accountability from dominant technology companies."
A preliminary settlement had been reached in December,
advertising a scheduled Feb. 5, 2024 trial. Terms were not disclosed at the
time. The plaintiffs' lawyers plan to later seek unspecified legal fees payable
by Google.
The case is Brown et al v Google LLC et al, U.S. District
Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-03664.