Google to remove billions of personal data collected from chrome users

Google, the American tech-giant, has been known to collect data from individuals making use of its chrome web browser. Recently, Google announced that it will be purging billions of personal records taken from 136 million chrome users in the United States.

The tech company was at the receiving end of a lawsuit which accused it of illegal surveillance, resulting in Google agreeing to a settlement. A part of that settlement requires Google to purge this data so as to comply with privacy laws and the stipulations of the court.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2020 and questioned chrome’s privacy controls before a deal was struck by the attorneys handling the class-action case. The exact nature of the deal was disclosed in court on Monday, roughly three months after it was finalized.

One of the accusations which garnered a lot of attention stated that google tracks the internet activity of chrome users even when the incognito mode is active. The applicability of incognito surfing is effectively nullified as the feature is supposed to allow a user to surf the internet without being tracked by Google.

Google fought the lawsuit intensely but was rebuffed by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who rejected the company’s plea to dismiss the case in August 2023, thus pushing proceedings towards a trial.

Subsequently, the aforementioned settlement was negotiated and its terms were disclosed on Monday but it is subject to the approval of Judge Rogers, who will make the decision following a federal hearing, to be held in Oakland, California on the 30th of July.

The settlement stipulates that Google must purge the personal data it has collected from its data centers and make open disclosures about the privacy provided by chrome in the incognito mode.

The settlement also has other sections which look to limit Google’s ability to collect personal information from users in the future.

Having said that, it must be noted that users mentioned in the class action law suit will not be provided with any monetary compensation, a fact which was reiterated by representatives of Google as the details of the settlement were disclosed.

Google issued a statement delineating the company’s perspective on the matter, “We are pleased to settle this lawsuit, which we always believed was meritless. We are required to delete old personal technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.”

The narrative presented in the court papers by attorneys representing chrome users is very different though. According to them, in an age which has seen digital surveillance go from strength to strength, this settlement is a victory which helps maintain the personal privacy of internet users.

The lawyers estimated the value of the settlement on the basis of the potential for making ad sales through the personal information accumulated by Google, arriving at a number ranging between $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion.

The settlement also makes Google immune to class action suits based on the same premise, which would bring this issue to a definitive close as far as the company is concerned.

Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc, makes an estimated $300 billion in the form of annual revenue through digital ads and is not concerned by the settlement as it is not expected to affect this amount in any meaningful way.

In fact, Alphabet Inc saw a rise in its market value by 3%, closing on Monday at a healthy share value of $155.49, bringing the worth of the company to an astounding $1.9 trillion.

A lawyer named Austin Chambers from Dorsey & Whitney, who specializes in data privacy issues, said that the settlement is a positive development which has the potential to change the way personal information is accessed and collected in the future.

He also stated the following, “This prevents companies from profiting off of that data, and also requires them to undertake complex and costly data deletion efforts. In some cases, this could have a dramatic impact on products built around those datasets.”

Despite the settlement, Google continues to be subjected to legal issues based on its regulatory policies, something that would have far reaching effects on the company and its profitability, depending on the decision reached by courts on the matter.

The US Department of Justice alleges that Google has weaponized the dominance of its search engine to suppress competing companies and innovative efforts in the field. The trial for the case was conducted in the fall of last year and closing arguments will be presented before a judge on the 1st of May, with a ruling expected in autumn this year.

Last year, a federal jury came to the decision that Google’s app store for android devices was allowing the company to make significantly high commissions and it is expected that changes will be made, thus undercutting what Google receives from this source as well.

It is perceived that Google has a monopoly on the apps sold to android users and the manner in which the process in conducted, giving the tech company an undue advantage.

Later in May, a hearing will be conducted to ascertain what changes Google must make to the Play Store in accordance with the court’s requirements.