Google’s Tracking My “Incognito” Searches?

Google has recently agreed to erase all the data amassed from individuals’ “Incognito” searches on Chrome. Yes, they’ve indeed been monitoring those.

Many individuals assume that their searches in “Incognito” mode are confidential. However, in reality, it merely refrains from adding the search history to your computer. A lawsuit filed in 2020 accused Google of misrepresenting the data it gathers from these searches. Although settled late last year, the specifics emerged only recently in a court filing.

As part of the settlement, Google pledged to delete “billions of data records” from private browsing sessions. Although the plaintiffs sought $5 billion in damages, this did not materialize.

Google is revising its disclosure forms and enabling individuals to block third-party cookies in Incognito mode for the next five years.

Moreover, (and maybe most importantly) they will cease tracking how frequently users switch to Incognito mode moving forward.