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, according to Daily Mail.
Lawyers for both sides said on Thursday they had reached a preliminary settlement, and US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers paused a scheduled February 5 trial in the proposed class action.
The lawsuit had sought at least $5 billion, including at least $5,000 in damages per user for those who used private browsing modes between 2016 and 2020.
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.
The lawsuit alleged that Google's analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet subsidiary track their activity even when they set Google's Chrome browser to 'Incognito' mode and other browsers to 'private' browsing mode.
They said this allowed Google to illicitly learn about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and 'potentially embarrassing things' they seek out online.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs accused Google of becoming 'an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it.'
The complaint states: 'Through its pervasive data tracking business, Google knows who your friends are, what your hobbies are, what you like to eat, what movies you watch, where and when you like to shop, what your favorite vacation destinations are, what your favorite color is, and even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing things you browse on the internet—regardless of whether you follow Google's advice to keep your activities 'private.'
'Indeed, notwithstanding consumers' best efforts, Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it.'
The document, filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, alleges that Google gathers data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and other applications and website plug-ins, including smartphone apps - regardless of whether users click on Google-supported ads.
