Google has agreed to settle a large $5 billion lawsuit that accused the embattled tech giant of improperly tracking the private data of thousands and thousands of people that used its Chrome browser’s incognito mode, lawyers said Thursday.
Lawyers from either side said they’d signed a binding term sheet as a part of the mediation process and would submit the agreement for final approval by a federal judge in Oakland, Calif., no later than Feb. 24, 2024.
Financial terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
The plaintiffs had initially sought not less than $5 billion in damages, alleging that Google was in a position to track users’ online activity through its analytics and other tools even once they thought they were browsing privately.
The suit accused Google of essentially creating an “unaccountable trove of data” that included innocuous items like shopping habits and hobbies to other “potentially embarrassing things” they viewed.
Google denied wrongdoing.
The proposed class-action suit was slated to move to trial on Feb. 5 if a settlement was not reached.
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has now placed the trial on hold pending final review.
In August, Rogers denied a bid by Google to have the lawsuit dismissed.
The settlement’s terms weren’t disclosed. REUTERS
The plaintiffs’ attorneys were searching for to recuperate least $5,000 in damages per user for the alleged violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws dating back to June 1, 2016.
Google didn’t immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
Google still faces plenty of pending legal battles, including several antitrust cases targeting various parts of its sprawling business empire.
In January, US District Judge James Donato will hold hearings on potential remedies after a federal jury determined that Google had maintained an illegal monopoly through its Android app store and its closely linked in-app billing system.
Donato could order Google to alter business practices and even break up a part of its business.
Individually, Google reached a $700 million settlement with all 50 US states in a related case.
The tech giant also agreed to alter a few of its business practices within the app store as a part of the deal, though critics have argued it’s a weak consequence.
Google can be awaiting a ruling within the Justice Department’s landmark antitrust case of its online search business.
Judge Amit Mehta is predicted to determine whether the tech giant is a monopoly in mid-2024.
With Post wires
