Google will delete billions of records containing users’ personal data

Google has agreed to delete billions of user activity records containing personal data from more than 136 million US residents who use the Chrome browser. The company was forced to do this by a lawsuit in which the corporation is accused of illegal surveillance of users, reports Associated Press.

The class action lawsuit against Google was filed in June 2020. At the end of December 2023, the lawyers representing the plaintiffs and the corporation announced that they had reached an agreement that would help resolve the lawsuit. The plaintiffs, in particular, accused Google of continuing to monitor the Internet activity of users, even if they are in incognito mode.

Court proceedings to consider the claim on the merits did not begin thanks to the efforts of Google’s lawyers, but in August 2023, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected the corporation’s request to dismiss the case. This was the reason for the start of negotiations between the parties. Officially, the terms of the deal between the defendant and the plaintiffs can be approved no earlier than July 30, when the first hearings will be held, AP reports.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google, in addition to deleting billions of records from data centers, will have to more clearly communicate the degree of privacy that is available to the user when using incognito mode. The agreement also includes other controls designed to limit the company’s collection of personal information. In this case, the plaintiffs will not receive any payments.

About the challenges Google faces this year – in the material “Kommersant” “Google has found someone to scare”.

Erdni Kagaltynov