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Google Chrome Privacy Lawsuit Settlement
FILE - The Google building is seen in New York, Feb. 26, 2024. Google has agreed to purge billions of records containing personal information collected from more than 136 million people in the U.S. surfing the internet through its Chrome web browser as part of settlement in a lawsuit accusing it of illegal surveillance. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Browsing in incognito mode doesn't protect you as much as you might think

Google’s widely used Chrome browser has offered a private browsing mode called “Incognito” for nearly a decade

By AP News
Published - Apr 02, 2024, 01:33 PM ET
Last Updated - Apr 02, 2024, 01:33 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Although a private browsing mode known as “Incognito" in Google's widely used Chrome browser has been available for nearly a decade, a legal settlement involving the way it works has casting new attention on this commonly available setting.

The settlement disclosed Monday in a federal court is primarily designed to ensure that users who use Incognito mode in Chrome get more privacy while surfing the internet than they had been previously.

Although Google isn't paying any money to consumers, the lawyers who filed the case in June 2020 believe the stricter safeguards will be worth $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion, based on the estimated value of the personal information protected by the settlement.

Nearly every major browser now has a private browsing mode. Here's a look at what they do and don't do for surfers.

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