Google Chrome is the world’s most widely used web browser across operating systems, and by a landslide margin. It offers every necessary feature you could need, including incognito mode, to browse privately. However, back in 2020, the company wassued for allegedly violating federal wiretap lawsbecause this mode wasn’t as private as advertised. The company recently settled the suit for a whopping $5 billion and Chrome is finally updating its Incognito mode disclaimer to be more explicit.
Although $5 billion may amount to pocket change for Google, the plaintiffs in the class-action suit from 2020 alleged that the companycontinues tracking userseven when they browse using Incognito mode. Although on-device browser history isn’t recorded and the disclaimer on the new tab page (NTP) clarifies that changes to downloads and reading lists are still recorded, websites continue tracking users through cookies and cross-site trackers.
It is a major cause for concern because a vast majority of these trackers and cookies feed data back to Google-owned platforms which websites use for analytics and ad revenue. Moreover, the collected data remains associated with your user profile. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit sought $5 billion in compensation for all affected users since 2016, in the US. Late in December,Google agreed to settle the caseout of court for the same amount instead of proceeding with a legal battle, but the company didn’t reveal the conditions of the settlement. Now, Google Chrome’s NTP for Incognito mode features a silently amended disclaimer in the latest Canary build (viaMSPowerUser).
Google Chrome’s current Incognito NTP message(left); new NTP message in Canary(right)
In Canary version 122 on Windows, Android, and other operating systems, pulling up a new incognito tab reveals a brand-new privacy disclaimer which only shares the first and last line with the current message in the stable version of the browser. Canary makes it clear that other people using the same device won’t see your incognito activity, but data collection by websites and the services they use (for analytics) will not change.
New disclaimer:
“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.”
The amended disclosure is a step in the right direction, because it informs the user that various services are still monitoring their activity. However, we wish the extent of privacy offered was clearly specified from the get-go. Version 122 will be on the stable channel in a few months, making the new Incognito mode NTP visible to all users worldwide.
