Google has announced they are being sued in a $5 Billion class action lawsuit over their tracking software amid privacy concerns.
This lawsuit stems from their Incognito program. Google, like any other internet browser or website uses cookies and other tracking software to track where you go online and to adjust advertisements and recommendations for you. Incognito was introduced to Chrome to prevent these tracking bots from latching on and giving your location to unwanted websites.
The lawsuit that Google now faces contends this is not the case. “According to the complaint filed in the federal court in San Jose, California, 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. This helps Google learn about users’ friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and even the “most intimate and potentially embarrassing things” they search for online, the complaint said.”[1]
In a world concerned about privacy, having a company such as Google still tracking your information despite advertising a safer alternative is concerning. Secure your browsers with programs like VPN and never go into unknown websites.
[1] https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2020/06/03/570833.htm