Google Chrome the most widely used browser in the U.S. since 2013 (Statista, 2021) is sued based on the claim that when a user uses Google’s incognito mode the company continues to track activity. According to the claimants this is a violation of privacy laws and a wiretapping.
The claimants claim that Google is secretly collecting information from people in incognito mode regarding where they browse online and what they view. This constitutes for many as a daunting fact and a break of trust since the misleading thing about it is that the user himself loses all the cookies and history after the tab is closed (which is of course the idea behind incognito mode) whilst while Google saves it all. Google has requested for the case to be trown out, which is understandable since the claim could be worth as much as $5 billion, luckily the judge did not comply with this request (Keach, 2021). Google has publicly responded claiming that it is clear for all users what happens in their incognito mode. Google spokesperson José Castañeda said, “We strongly dispute these claims and we will defend ourselves vigorously against them. Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device. As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session.” (Roe, 2021).
Although I am shocked with this news it does not come entirely as a surprise. In my honest opinion I believe that for a regular internet user online privacy is an illusion. If a capable entity, like the government for example, wants to know or track a certain person they almost always succeed. Take for example the founder of the largest online illegal drug/weapons store SilkRoad Ross Ulbricht. Ross Ulbricht at the time a 29 year old computer science engineer was caught by the FBI after a long lasting man hunt even though he did almost everything possible to conceal his identity and location (CBS News, 2020). I do understand that one of the largest online criminals is rather different than Google tracking people in incognito mode but it is an illustration of the illusion of online privacy.
I fear that the use of the internet through the largest and most convenient suppliers of it always goes paired with possible invasion of privacy. The Google lawsuit seems to indicate that privacy is a relative term when technology is used as a medium. The question now is; should we as a society just take this for granted or is there something that we can do to secure our own online privacy?
In my opinion lawmakers should strike down severely on companies who see online privacy as a relative term by forcing them to guarantee online privacy or making them pay fines large enough to hurt the company and force them to change.
References:
Statista. (2021, 20 juli). U.S. desktop internet browsers market share 2015–2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/272697/market-share-desktop-internet-browser-usa/
Keach, S. (2021, 15 maart). Google Incognito Mode ‘secretly scooped your data’ as $5BILLION lawsuit approved. . . The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/14342457/google-incognito-mode-privacy-collecting-data-secretly/
Roe, D. (2021, 23 maart). Why Incognito Browsing Data Is Not Really Incognito At All. CMSWire.Com. https://www.cmswire.com/information-management/why-incognito-browsing-data-is-not-really-incognito-at-all/
CBS News. (2020, 11 november). Inside the FBI’s search for Ross Ulbricht, dark web kingpin of Silk Road. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ross-ulbricht-dread-pirate-roberts-silk-road-fbi/
Great post! I was literally thinking about this the other day. I use incognito quite often when I try to avoid cookies and getting targeted ads on random stuff I search on the internet. I was actually thinking that there is no way that Google does not track my activity while I am on incognito mode. At the same time, the argument they make that they do not track activity rather websites still can track your activity makes sense to me. They do disclaim this in the incognito page so I guess they are telling the truth.
We will never know whether they track our activity, or whether they listen to everything we say. Nevertheless, this is a very interesting topic that, in my opinion, will receive more attention in the future.
A really fascinating read! It is definitely a taboo subject in the eyes of big firms such as Google and Yahoo, but it is also a topic that we as individuals, have no real control over. I often use google incognito mode for price comparisons on websites, and I do know that although it does hide certain elements of my data search on my devices, it has no real impact on what companies and websites can do with my information. this is why I share the same belief as you in terms of how severely firms like Google should be punished for breaches in privacy rules such as the one you have clearly elaborated upon in your blog.
I also hope that more solutions become available for us individuals to fight against these risks. VPNs are currently one of the best ways to alter our web searching patterns, but more developments and investing needs to be brought to this particular domain of the internet privacy industry.
This is a very interesting article for a person like me who uses incognito mode in some instances. I often make use of this when I want to book a plane ticket or a hotel, thinking I will outsmart those websites that offer dynamic pricing. Your article offers clear insight as to what incognito mode actually entails and what ends up happening with the data. You make a very interesting point when saying privacy is an illusion for everyday internet users. This is closely related to something I recently wrote about, the power of the Facebook network. For some reason we accept our loss of privacy and autonomy in the tradeoff with convenience. I still wonder how we can protect our privacy and independence in this online jungle.