Ángel Jiménez from Luis USA
USA
Updated Monday, April 1, 2024-21:39
The Chrome browser has offered for years the possibility of browsing in "incognito" mode, a function that, in principle, seems to be associated with a certain degree of privacy. It offers it, but not for Google or the websites visited, which
continue to collect a lot of user data
in each session.
In 2020, several users sued the company because they considered that
the name was misleading and created an expectation of privacy
that did not correspond to reality. Now, the company has proposed deleting the data of hundreds of millions of users who have browsed using this function as part of the agreement to stop this class action lawsuit in the North American state of California.
The incognito mode browsing function is designed so that the browser does not "remember" the browsing history, save cookies (files that allow the activity of Internet users to be tracked) of the websites visited or the information entered in the forms. This can be useful so that other people using the same device do not know which pages have been visited, for example, but it
does not prevent Google from collecting information on the pages visited or the search terms,
nor does it prevent the pages visited from collecting data from their users. to enter.
When you activate the function in the browser, the notice that appears on the page makes it clear. "Now you can browse privately; other people using this device will not see your activity. However,
downloads and bookmarks will be saved,"
he says, while warning that the company or internet provider can have access to the information of the websites visited.
Following the lawsuit, Google has changed the text in some languages to further clarify the protection offered by incognito mode.
"This mode does not change the way the websites you view collect information,"
the notice now explains. As part of the agreement, Google will also activate by default the blocking of third-party cookies when browsing in incognito mode for the next five years.
Google assures that the data that it will delete and stop collecting in the coming years is
worth approximately $5 billion,
the amount that the plaintiffs requested as compensation. The company also ensures that none of the collected data that remains can be attributed to individual users. "We never associate data with individual users when they use incognito mode," they explain in the text of the proposed agreement.