Google removes millions of users' data and acknowledges the reality of Chrome's "incognito" mode of operation.

                                                      

Plaintiffs claim that Google's Chrome browser's "incognito" mode deceives users into believing the internet search engine behemoth is not monitoring them.

According to the terms of a settlement reached on Monday to end a lawsuit against the company over the privacy of personal data, Google plans to take the initiative to remove data gathered from millions of users while they browse the Internet, as reported by the German News Agency.

The plaintiffs in the 2020 class action lawsuit claimed that Google's Chrome browser's "Incognito" mode deceives users into believing that the internet search engine giant is not tracking them.

They claim that the industry leader in digital advertising, Chrome, has misled them about how it tracks users who want to use this private browsing feature.

In the lawsuit filed on Monday in the San Francisco court, the attorneys stated that "the plaintiffs’ efforts resulted in important confessions from employees at Google.” They included documents that called the use of incognito mode "practically a lie" and acknowledged that it "confuses." If Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers approves the arrangement, Google will not face legal action, but it will have to "delete and/or process billions of data records" that were gathered while users were using the incognito browser.

The document considered that "this agreement is a historic milestone because it requires dominant technology companies to be honest in what they tell users about how their data is collected and used, and (requires them) to delete the data collected in this way."

Google pledged to rephrase the notification displayed in incognito mode “immediately,” so that it “informs users that it collects private browsing data.”

The company will have to block third-party cookies in incognito mode, which are programs specifically used to track users online and target them with ads. Google has already begun its move toward the end of these cookies, which have been heavily criticized.

The agreement does not stipulate the payment of compensation, while the complaint filed in 2020 demanded $5 billion. But it leaves Chrome users who feel they have been harmed the option of suing Google separately for damages