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[JareBear: Remastered]

Google faces $5 billion lawsuit in U.S. for tracking 'private' internet use

Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through browsers set in "private" mode.

www.reuters.com

Google was sued on Tuesday in a proposed class action accusing the internet search company of illegally invading the privacy of millions of users by pervasively tracking their internet use through browsers set in “private” mode.

Google “cannot continue to engage in the covert and unauthorized data collection from virtually every American with a computer or phone,” the complaint said.


Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesman, said the Mountain View, California-based company will defend itself vigorously against the claims.

“As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity,” he said.

While users may view private browsing as a safe haven from watchful eyes, computer security researchers have long raised concern that Google and rivals might augment user profiles by tracking people’s identities across different browsing modes, combining data from private and ordinary internet surfing.

The complaint said the proposed class likely includes “millions” of Google users who since June 1, 2016 browsed the internet in “private” mode.

It seeks at least $5,000 of damages per user for violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.

Google is Facing a $5 Billion Lawsuit for Tracking Private Users

Report suggests that Google is facing a class-action lawsuit of $5 billion for illegally tracking user activities even in incognito mode.

wccftech.com

Google is Being Accused of Breaching User Privacy via Tracking Users in Incognito Mode
The report suggests that the lawsuit in question is seeking at least $5 billion. Alphabet Inc is being accused of collecting information pertaining to what people browse on the internet, as well as where they browse despite being in incognito mode.

As per the complaint that is filed in the federal court of San Jose, California, Google is gathering data through various mediums such as Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager as well as other applications and website plug-ins. Smartphone applications are also included and it does not matter if the user is clicking on Google-supported ads.

Sue me if old

 

[-YFC-]

It's sad that I'm not even surprised or angry anymore. This is what I expect from big tech companies.

 

[The Pleasure]

Bring back paid browsers that don't track shit. Rememver ipera or netscape?

 

[Weiji]

Google: What’s the problem? It’s not like we keep your name attached to the records... We use your SSN, more accurate to reference in a table.

 

[Kamina]

Google: What’s the problem? It’s not like we keep your name attached to the records... We use your SSN, more accurate to reference in a table.

Is your SSN open?

 

[StormCell]

Google: What’s the problem? It’s not like we keep your name attached to the records... We use your SSN, more accurate to reference in a table.

Meh. I can see them preferring their own UUID over the US SSN. Theirs would be global. But I'm sure they would link that UUID to an SSN somewhere for some credit and financial purposes. I wouldn't even doubt that Google could file taxes on our behalf without us even needing to provide any additional data.

 

[Weiji]

Is your SSN open?

I live in Washington, so no, it’s in use by illegals filing fraudulent unemployment claims.

 

[MasterCornholio]

That's pretty crappy.

 

[Saber]

Damn, what a scum move. Taking advantage of a mode like that. Hope they get hit.

 

[Yoda]

Anyone surprised? lol

 

[DrAspirino]

What surprises me the most is that people still use chrome, while there are several chromium alternatives that are better (like Edge, Brave, Ungoogled Chromium, etc...), as well as other browsers with equally good engines, like Firefox.

 

[cryptoadam]

So much porn so much porn

 

[eddie4]

Cool, so we're gonna see some of that money? Though so. Just a slap on the wrist for Google and some cash for the other guys. When will people learn that nothing on the internet is really private anymore unless you go to extreme measures?

 

[Foamy]

That's a lot of cheddar even for Google.
That'll hurt the old checkbook if they lose.

 

[StormCell]

Cool, so we're gonna see some of that money? Though so. Just a slap on the wrist for Google and some cash for the other guys. When will people learn that nothing on the internet is really private anymore unless you go to extreme measures?

I think people are generally suspicious enough, or we wouldn't be seeing this lawsuit.

This lawsuit needs to be the beginning of a long assault against Google, though. I doubt it will, but just because the internet has lost a lot of privacy doesn't mean it has to remain that way.

 

[GobbledeeGoo]

Now Google knows I have an unhealthy obsession with milfs.

 

[synchronicity]

All potential openings to power are ultimately exploited by those with means and desire to control.

 

[thief183]

'bout time. I had to write my own Rom for the galaxy S8 to remove all google BS, now I only install apps and suff by an external app on my pc, no tracking no other stuff, and the phone is super fast, no google maps is a boomer cause I didn't manage to get the Bing maps to work after Google decided to stop them from working on android phones

 

[thief183]

What surprises me the most is that people still use chrome, while there are several chromium alternatives that are better (like Edge, Brave, Ungoogled Chromium, etc...), as well as other browsers with equally good engines, like Firefox.

I'm surprised to how reliable and fast is the new Edge Chromium, it has been a saver for low end pcs

 

[Sejan]

What surprises me the most is that people still use chrome, while there are several chromium alternatives that are better (like Edge, Brave, Ungoogled Chromium, etc...), as well as other browsers with equally good engines, like Firefox.

I switched from Firefox to chrome a while back because I heard it was better for certain things. I ended up switching back to Firefox pretty quick because I didn’t feel confident in giving even more information to google.

 

[davepoobond]

I use Firefox as my primary browser for a reason

 

[Fbh]

I'm not going to defend google.
But come on, at least around here everyone should know incognito mode is basically just there to watch porn without having to clear your browse history

 

[SometimeLaterToday]

I'm sure they'll be fined about three fiddy, as per usual.