Google has agreed to destroy or anonymize web browsing data records collected in Chrome’s privacy mode. The proposed settlement agreement in Brown v. Google would also require the company to provide greater disclosure about how it collects data in this mode and set limits on future data collection.
If approved by a federal judge in California, the agreement could apply to 136 million Google users. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by Google account holders who accused the company of illegally tracking their behavior through the privacy mode.
The offer is valued at $5 billion, this amount is calculated by determining the value of the data that Google has stored and will be forced to destroy, as well as the data that it will potentially not be able to collect. Google will have to delete data collected in private browsing mode in December 2023 and earlier. Any data that is not completely deleted must be anonymized.
«This settlement agreement provides true accountability and transparency from the world’s largest data collector and marks an important step toward improving and protecting our right to privacy online,» the plaintiffs wrote in a statement about the settlement.
Google spokesperson Jose Castañeda said in a statement that the company is «pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we have always believed to be without merit». Although the plaintiffs valued the proposed settlement at $5 billion, which they had originally sought as damages, Castañeda said they were getting zero». The settlement does not include damages for the class of plaintiffs, although individuals may file claims.
«We never link data to users when they use anonymous browsing. We are happy to delete old technical data that has never been linked to an individual and has never been used for any form of personalization,» Castañeda added.
Part of the agreement includes changes to the way Google communicates privacy mode restrictions to users, which the company has already begun to roll out in Chrome. Google has also agreed to allow users to block third-party cookies by default in this mode for five years. Individuals can still file claims for damages in the California state court under the terms of the settlement, and 50 such claims have already been filed.
Earlier, it was reported that the final approval of the agreement would be made by the end of February, but this happened a little later.
Source: The Verge