Google agrees to pay $5 billion to settle lawsuit over tracking users in 'private mode'

Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit in the US that accused the company of invading users' privacy by tracking them even when they were browsing in "private mode". The class action lawsuit sought at least $5 billion from Google and its parent company, Alphabet. This settlement comes at a time when large technology firms are facing increased scrutiny over their practices. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but lawyers are expected to present a formal settlement for court approval by February 2024. The lawsuit, filed by law firm Boies Schiller Flexner in 2020, claimed that Google tracked users' activity even when they used "Incognito" or "private" modes on their browsers. Google argued that it had disclosed the data it collected, and the collection of search history in private mode helped site owners evaluate their content and performance. This settlement adds to the existing lawsuits challenging Google's search and digital advertising practices. Just recently, Google agreed to pay $700 million to settle a lawsuit brought by US states, and it also lost a court battle against Epic Games over its dominance in the app store space.