Google is accused of having made it possible to collect data from the browsing history of users even when they sought to secure their activity. Information has indeed been recorded by the web giant while those concerned had activated the private browsing mode on Google Chrome, said a complaint filed Tuesday against the company and relayed by Bloomberg Law.
A contested complaint
The class action initiated in the United States by three Google account holders targets the company and its parent company Alphabet. They are accused of using tools to track the activity of Internet users, explains the New York Times . The system would intercept in particular the addresses of the sites visited and the words entered in the search engine. This information would then be communicated to advertisers or publishers of websites.
Jose Castaneda, spokesman for the Californian giant, rejects these accusations and ensures that Internet users opting for private browsing are informed that the collection of information remains possible. The complainants for their part believe that Google does not mention all the devices used and "knowingly misleads consumers".
Five billion dollars claimed
Google would also not have complied with a California law making it compulsory for users to agree before accessing elements exchanged during private communications, say the authors of the complaint.
Clubic explains that the latter are claiming from Google 5 billion dollars, or about 4.5 billion euros. With this sum, the plaintiffs wish to pay 5,000 dollars to each user victim of the practices of the company.
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- Complaint
- United States
- Justice
- Google chrome
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