- cross-posted to:
- tech@kbin.social
- privacy@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- tech@kbin.social
- privacy@lemmy.ml
$5 billion Google lawsuit over ‘incognito mode’ tracking moves a step closer to trial | Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers denied Google’s push for a summary judgment in a lawsuit over the way it tracked…::Google’s push for a summary judgment in a lawsuit over tracking internet activity even after users activated Chrome’s “Incognito mode” was denied.
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Yeah everyone needs to stop using Chrome.
firefox is pretty good
Firefox is the only real alternative
You notice how they block certain VPN IP addresses too? I try to use IPVanish but lots of them don’t work specifically just on Google. They claim to care about security then sometimes don’t let you use a VPN? Yeah whatever…
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You know Firefox has literally the exact same feature Google is being sued over, right? A lawsuit doesn’t automatically have merit just because you don’t like the party being sued.
Are you talking about private viewing mode? Firefox has it, but it may not be implemented the same and it may not have the same level of tracking.
Sounds like you may know though. What’s the issue with Firefox’s implementation?
I know exactly what Chrome does and I assume Firefox does the same because I don’t know what else it would do. It basically acts as if you created a temporary profile that’s deleted when you close the window. There’s a little more to it than that, like being able to opt in to using extensions from your main profile, but basically it’s just for things like preventing your family from seeing that you’ve been watching porn or shopping for Christmas presents.
People seem to get confused a lot because it doesn’t use encryption, hide your IP address, or anything like that, and you can still be tracked if you sign into things in the private/incognito window.
The problem isn’t the feature, it’s the fact they still do things they said they are not doing while in incognito. I don’t think I should get ads from stuff I look up while incognito.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
On Monday, a California judge denied Google’s request for summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by users alleging the company illegally invaded the privacy of millions of people.
The people suing Google say that occurred because Google’s cookies, analytics, and tools in apps continued to track internet browsing activity even after users activated Incognito mode Chrome, or other similar features like Safari’s private browsing expecting a certain level of privacy.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers pointed to statements in the Chrome privacy notice, Privacy Policy, Incognito Splash Screen, and Search & Browse Privately Help page about how incognito mode limits the information stored or how people can control the information they share, writing, “Taken as a whole, a triable issue exists as to whether these writings created an enforceable promise that Google would not collect users’ data while they browsed privately.”
Finally, given the nature of Google’s data collection, the Court is satisfied that money damages alone are not an adequate remedy.
Injunctive relief is necessary to address Google’s ongoing collection of users’ private browsing data.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2020, seeking “at least” $5 billion in damages, and as reported by Mike Swift for MLex, the ruling was not entirely surprising, as the judge had indicated she’d do so, but it is a big one as it moves the case closer toward settlement or a trial.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
When are these multibillion dollar companies actually going to be sued for more than what is essentially a nickel to them?
It’s like a game for lawyers, they know google is hemmoraging money so they decide “ohhhh let’s sue them, but just for a lil bit, don’t want to piss them off TOO much”
ITT: people are giving morons who don’t understand what incognito mode is the credit for suing Google over their own stupidity and suggesting alternative browsers that don’t do anything different from Google because that mode is just supposed to DMZ session data, not mask your identity. Glad we’re celebrating ignorance instead of lampooning morons for wasting money on the lawyers and courts that have to handle this garbage.
Remember “Don’t be evil?” Pepperidge farm remembers
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This is true for all browsers that have an incognito mode, not just Firefox.
Unless you’re using Tor, there’s not really a way to go 99% incognito.
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Firefox is the only mainstream browser with source code written in full by a nonprofit. That’s more than enough for me to evangelize it. Let me know how manifest 3 and the chromium web drm implementation treat you.
Firefox can happily lie to you and you’ll buy it, you’ll buy it so much that you don’t see in between the lines.
bruh chill, how tf they lying? the feature works exactly as expected/advertised. it’s not Mozilla’s fault if people don’t know how to read.
“Important: Private Browsing does not make you anonymous on the Internet. Your Internet service provider, employer, or the sites themselves can still gather information about pages you visit. Private Browsing also doesn’t protect you from keyloggers or spyware that may be installed on your computer. To learn more, see Common Myths about Private Browsing.”
quote from: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/private-browsing-use-firefox-without-history
additional: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/common-myths-about-private-browsing
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LOL! All of your sources are from Mozilla themselves. Delicious bias irony.
Not ironic at all. If missing the point was a flavor, you’d be the most delicious dish.
When Mozilla says that “Private Browsing does not make you anonymous on the Internet” you’re saying they’re lying? Are you telling me that private browsing does make you Anon? In that case you’re the liar.
Of course I’m going to link to Mozilla to give an example of their claims (true or not.) maybe if you think that they’re lying about the claim of “private browsing not making you anonymous” try to provide some reasoning as to why :)
Good luck, I’m behind 7 proxies. It sounds like the FF feature works as intended
Honest question: Which browser would you recommend instead?
