Incognito Mode gets a privacy cleanup as Google agrees to ‘destroy’ data

Remember that class-action lawsuit accusing Google of sneaky data collection in Incognito mode? Well, it’s finally settled, and your incognito browsing habits might be a little more private now. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google has agreed to delete billions of improperly collected data records that reflect users’ private browsing activities.

Incognito mode is meant to hide your browsing history. It’s supposed to be like a fresh session, without your accounts or saved history influencing the experience, and where local browsing data is discarded on your device, allowing you to browse while leaving no history behind. But back in 2020, a massive lawsuit alleged that Google still collected some data on you, even when you were in Incognito mode. Yeah.. not cool. They were staring at a potential $5 billion payout. In late 2023, we heard rumblings that Google had settled – but what did they agree to?

Now we know! As part of the settlement, Google will destroy “billions” of data points collected during Incognito sessions. It sounds like they admit it was “improperly collected.” The settlement also brings a few other changes. Google has to revamp its Incognito mode disclaimers to be more upfront about what data they do still collect and you’ll get the option to block third-party cookies entirely within Incognito mode. Cookies are basically little trackers that follow you around the web.

Sadly, the $5,000 per-user payout didn’t happen. You can still file individual claims, but a big class-action check isn’t in the cards. The bottom line is that this is a win for privacy advocates, even if it’s a bit messy. Google still probably collects more than you’d like in Incognito mode, but this settlement forced some positive changes and reminds us that even a tech giant can be held accountable.