Google

==== Private browsing lawsuit ====
{{See also|Private browsing}}
In early June 2020, a $5 billion class-action lawsuit was filed against Google by a group of consumers, alleging that [[Google Chrome|Chrome]]'s Incognito browsing mode still collects their user history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/13/22329240/judge-rules-google-5-billion-lawsuit-tracking-chrome-incognito-privacy |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[The Verge]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-to-face-5b-lawsuit-over-tracking-users-in-incognito-mode/399113/#close |access-date=October 4, 2021 |website=SearchEngineJournal}}</ref> The lawsuit became known in March 2021 when a federal judge denied Google's request to dismiss the case, ruling that they must face the group's charges.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-13/google-must-face-suit-over-snooping-on-incognito-browsing |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2021 |title=Google gets sued |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/judge-rules-5-billion-google-chrome-incognito-mode-lawsuit-can-go-forward/ |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Ars Technica]]}}</ref> [[Reuters]] reported that the lawsuit alleged that Google's CEO [[Sundar Pichai]] sought to keep the users unaware of this issue.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 24, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-ceo-sought-keep-incognito-mode-issues-out-spotlight-lawsuit-alleges-2021-09-24/ |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

In April 2024, it was announced that Google agreed to settle this lawsuit.  Under the terms of the settlement Google agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of people who thought they were browsing privately.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liedtke |first=Michael |date=April 1, 2024 |title=Google to purge billions of files containing personal data in settlement of Chrome privacy case |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/google-to-purge-billions-of-files-containing-personal-data-in-settlement-of-chrome-privacy-case/ar-BB1kTLBe |url-status=live |access-date=April 3, 2024 |work=Associated Press}}</ref>