A U.S. judge denied Google’s bid to dismiss a $5 billion lawsuit claiming it invaded the privacy of millions of people by secretly tracking their internet use.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers highlighted that she could not find that users consented to let Google collect information about what they viewed online because it never explicitly told them it would.
The plaintiffs claimed that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps allowed California-based firm Mountain View to track their activity even when they set Google’s Chrome browser to “Incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode.
They said this let Google learn enough about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and “potentially embarrassing things” they seek out online, becoming “an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it.”
On his part, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the tech giant strongly disputed the plaintiffs’ claims and would defend itself vigorously against them.
“Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device,” Castaneda said. “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.”
