Google settles $5 billion consumer privacy lawsuit

Alphabet’s Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people.

Alphabet's Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put a scheduled February 5, 2024 trial in the proposed class action on hold on Thursday, after lawyers for Google and for consumers said they had reached a preliminary settlement.

The lawsuit had sought at least $5 billion. Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawyers said they have agreed to a binding term sheet through mediation, and expected to present a formal settlement for court approval by February 24, 2024.

Neither Google nor lawyers for the plaintiff consumers immediately responded to requests for comment.

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The plaintiffs alleged that Google's analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit track their activity even when they set Google's Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode.

They said this turned Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" by letting the company learn about their friends, hobbies, favourite foods, shopping habits, and "potentially embarrassing things" they seek out online.