Google paid 5 billion dollars for tracking in anonymous mode

Google has agreed to settle a US lawsuit alleging it violated users' privacy by tracking them even when they browsed in anonymous or private mode.

The class-action lawsuit sought at least $5 billion (€4.5 billion) from the world's largest search engine and parent company Alphabet. Google, Facebook, Amazon and other tech companies have come under scrutiny from regulators in the EU, US and elsewhere in recent years. The fine that hit Google is far from the only one, but it is one of the biggest ever.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers canceled a scheduled trial Thursday in California after attorneys said they had reached a preliminary settlement.

Earlier this year, a judge rejected Google's request to dismiss the lawsuit because there was no evidence that users agreed that Google could collect information about their browsing in anonymous mode. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. However, lawyers are expected to submit the official settlement to the court for approval by February 2024.

A class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 by the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner alleged that Google's conduct turned users' anonymous browsing into an "irresponsible treasure trove of information" that included user preferences as well as "potentially embarrassing stuff."

It added that Google cannot "continue to covertly and unauthorizedly collect data from virtually every American with a computer or phone."

Google said it notified users in advance of the data it collected in anonymous mode. Of course, American users and their lawyers did not agree with this. Google said that collecting search history, even in private browsing mode, helps website owners "better evaluate the performance of their content, products, marketing and more."

Google is facing other lawsuits challenging its search and digital advertising practices. Earlier this month, the tech giant said it would pay $700 million to settle a lawsuit filed by a group of US states accusing Google of stifling competition in its Play Store on Android devices.

This comes days after he lost a legal battle in a US court against Fortnite's maker, Epic Games, accusing the giant of abusing its dominant position.