Google agreed to destroy billions of personal data records as part of the settlement. lawsuit It accused the company of secretly monitoring users' internet activities.
The lawsuit was considered a class action lawsuit. This means that although the lawsuit was brought by an individual or a small group, many other people want to join in the action.
Lawyers first announced the settlement agreement in December. However, the details were not made public until recently.
This lawsuit targeted millions of people who used Google's Internet browser Chrome launches on June 1, 2016. Google has been accused of continuing to track Chrome users' internet activities even when they were browsing in a privacy setting called “Incognito.”
Users accused Google of misleading them by saying that their internet activity is not recorded while they browse incognito. Users claimed that while Chrome was set to “incognito,” Google's advertising system continued to collect data about users' movements around the web.
Google strongly resisted this accusation. He had asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, but it was denied. The terms of the settlement were negotiated over a period of four months. The deal must receive final approval from a federal judge at a hearing scheduled for July 30 in Oakland, California.
The proposed settlement requires Google to destroy billions of personal records stored in its data centers. It also ordered the company to provide more detailed guidance on its privacy policy for users of Chrome. And tools are needed to limit Google's collection of personal data.
Class action representatives will not receive damages or other payments as part of any settlement. However, the agreement does not prevent individual users from filing civil lawsuits against the company in U.S. state courts.
Google said in a statement that it was “pleased to have settled this lawsuit.” Lawyers representing Chrome users said the settlement is a major victory for personal privacy in an increasingly digital world. surveillance.
Lawyers in the case valued the settlement at between $4.75 billion and $7.8 billion. They explained that they arrived at this number primarily based on how much revenue they would make from advertising sales linked to the personal data collected without the new restrictions.
Austin Chambers is a data privacy attorney at Dorsey & Whitney. He told The Associated Press that he considered the settlement a “welcome development.” He said it could affect how personal information is collected online in the future.
Chambers said: “This prevents companies from making a profit from that data; undertake complex and expensive data delete Effort. “
Google still faces legal threats related to other issues. Legal experts say these threats could ultimately have an even bigger impact on advertising-based businesses.
One of the cases alleges that Google is abusing its influence in Internet advertising to limit competition. Closing arguments in the case are scheduled to begin on May 1st.
Google also faces potential changes to its app store after a U.S. jury found it was operating as an illegal app store. Exclusive. Public hearings to consider possible changes Google would have to make are scheduled to begin in late May.
I'm Brian Lin.
Bryan Lynn wrote this article for VOA Learning English based on reporting from The Associated Press, Reuters and Google.
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words of this story
lawsuit –n. a legal charge against someone that usually does not involve the police
browser –n. a computer program that allows you to view pages on the Internet
surveillance –n. the activity of observing something or someone carefully
undertake –v. start working on something
erase –v. Especially to delete data from your computer
Exclusive –n. complete control over the entire supply of goods or services in a particular region or market