A lawsuit filed in California Federal Court in June 2020 stated that the “incognito mode” of Google Chrome is not as private as people think.
Currently, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai will need to answer the following question: Even if the user activates the browser’s “incognito mode”, will Google continue to track users?
The case named Brown et al. v. Google LLC was filed on June 2, 2020, and was assigned to Judge Lucy Koch of the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.
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On the 27th of last month, the judge issued Pichai’s evidence collection order, requiring him to testify in this case for no more than two hours, because the plaintiff stated that Pichai was concerned about “related issues related to the Chrome browser and privacy issues. Unique personal knowledge”. Earlier in the case, the court also issued an order requiring Google’s chief marketing officer Lorraine Twohill to answer questions about how the tech giant promotes browser features.
Moreover, Google’s legal team tried to prevent Pichai from testifying in this case. They claim that lower-level employees who work directly on the Chrome browser are more suitable to answer questions about how the browser’s “incognito mode” feature works.
The plaintiff stated that even in the “incognito mode”, Google still collects repeated GET request records, the user’s Internet-connected IP address, user ID, geographic location, cookies, and other fingerprint data. The plaintiff alleges that Google distorted the function of the “incognito mode”. The plaintiff also mentioned that if the website wants to obtain the user data collected by Google, it also needs to spend money to upgrade it, which is also one of Google’s sources of income.
Furthermore, Google disputes these claims, saying that when a user opens a new “incognito mode” tab or window, it clearly discloses the “incognito mode” function, and the user’s online activities can still be accessed by them. Google asked the court to dismiss the class action, but the request was rejected by Judge Koch in March 2021.
When a user opens a new hidden mode window or tab in the Chrome browser, Google said that the browser will not save browsing history, cookies, and website data, and information entered on the form. But Google does say that the visited websites, employers or schools, and Internet service providers may still see users’ online activities. The current version of the Chrome browser allows users to choose whether they want to block third-party cookies in the incognito mode.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told Bloomberg that during the evidence collection stage of the trial, the company cooperated with the plaintiff’s “numerous requests”. He said that asking Pichai to testify was “unreasonable and excessive.”
