Current:Home > ScamsGoogle warns users Chrome's incognito mode still tracks data, reports say. What to know. -CapitalWay
Google warns users Chrome's incognito mode still tracks data, reports say. What to know.
View
Date:2025-04-25 01:31:41
Google Chrome has reportedly updated the message that users see when they're in "incognito mode" following the settlement of a $5 billion privacy lawsuit.
Google added a disclaimer that the privacy function still collects user data that websites and services can access, according to the Verge, which said MSPowerUser first spotted the change.
The new message is only visible on the latest version of Google Chrome, the Verge reported. The previous message is still visible for some Chrome users.
Parts of the disclaimer remain untouched like the bullet points that clarifies that websites, employers, schools and internet service providers can view activity. The page also states that browsing history, cookies, site data and information entered in forms are not saved in incognito mode.
Reports:Blood-oxygen sensors to be removed from Apple Watches as company looks to avoid ban
Original and updated incognito mode messages comparison
The previous message reads: "Now you can browse privately, and other people who use this device won’t see your activity. However, downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more."
According to the Verge, the new message reads: "Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won’t change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more.”
The previous message also gave users the option to block third-party cookies that primarily prevents sites from tracking internet activity.
Lawsuit alleged Google spied on users
The update comes after the company agreed on Dec. 28 to settle a $5 billion class-action lawsuit alleging the platform used private browsers to track internet use, according to the Associated Press.
The privacy lawsuit filed in 2020 alleged that Google misled users into thinking their internet activities would be off limits to the company. Plaintiffs also claimed that the company used advertising technologies to catalog their site visits and used an "unaccountable trove of information" under the false perception of privacy.
The settlement still requires approval by a federal judge and AP reported that the final settlement agreement will be presented in court by Feb. 24.
"We’re pleased to resolve this case, which we’ve long disputed, and will provide even more information to users about Incognito Mode," Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement. "Incognito mode in Chrome will continue to give people the choice to browse the internet without their activity being saved to their browser or device."
Google did not respond to USA TODAY's questions about the updated incognito mode disclaimer.
veryGood! (48672)
Related
- Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
- Charities say Taliban intimidation diverts aid to Taliban members and causes
- Brittany Cartwright Reacts to Critical Comments About Her Appearance in Mirror Selfie
- After Roe: A New Battlefield (2022)
- Nearly 400 USAID contract employees laid off in wake of Trump's 'stop work' order
- In Corporate March to Clean Energy, Utilities Not Required
- A Warming Climate is Implicated in Australian Wildfires
- Ultimatum: Queer Love’s Vanessa Admits She Broke This Boundary With Xander
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- Biden's sleep apnea has led him to use a CPAP machine at night
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Get 2 Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gels for Less Than the Price of 1
- Department of Energy Program Aims to Bump Solar Costs Even Lower
- Don’t Miss This $80 Deal on a $180 PowerXL 10-Quart Dual Basket Air Fryer
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Malpractice lawsuits over denied abortion care may be on the horizon
- Hawaii Eyes Offshore Wind to Reach its 100 Percent Clean Energy Goal
- The drug fueling another wave of overdose deaths
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Get $91 Worth of MAC Cosmetics Eye Makeup for Just $40
Wyoming's ban on abortion pills blocked days before law takes effect
American Climate Video: She Thought She Could Ride Out the Storm, Her Daughter Said. It Was a Fatal Mistake
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Missouri woman imprisoned for library worker's 1980 murder will get hearing that could lead to her release
Top Democrats, Republicans offer dueling messages on abortion a year after Roe overturned
Video: A Climate Change ‘Hackathon’ Takes Aim at New York’s Buildings