Do you think you are safe using Incognito mode in Chrome?
Google Chrome is one of the most popular and widely used browsers in the world, as it features a set of features that enhance the user's experience in browsing the Internet. The incognito browsing mode in Chrome is one of its most important features. This mode enables users to browse the Internet with greater privacy as their browsing history, cookies, and passwords are not kept once the browsing window is closed.
In 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Google in the United States, accusing it of keeping records of Chrome's incognito mode. A few days ago, Google suddenly decided to get rid of billions of these records. This move raised questions about the effectiveness of incognito mode in providing users' privacy and raised doubts about Google's credibility. This move came as part of the settlement of the lawsuit filed against it in California. Many considered this act to be a betrayal of the trust of Google users around the world.
Getting Started with Chrome's Incognito Mode
In 2005, the Incognito Mode feature was made available for the first time in the world of browsers, and it was part of version 2.0 of Apple’s Safari browser. This feature was a qualitative shift in the history of privacy on the Internet, at a time when the beginnings of the Internet era were characterized by the absence of sufficient awareness of privacy and security matters on the World Wide Web.
Only three years later, Google joined this race by adding the incognito browsing feature to its famous browser, Google Chrome, which later became one of the most popular and widely used browsers in the world.
Since then, the incognito browsing feature has become available in all major browsers, and is considered the cornerstone of providing a safe and secure environment while browsing the Internet. This feature prevents the user's data from being saved, including browsing history, cookies, and personal information that the user enters on various websites.
According to Google, Chrome's Incognito mode window deletes all this data once the window is closed, enhancing users' sense of security and privacy during their online experience.
Is Chrome's incognito mode really secure?
Incognito mode in Chrome can be considered as a security shield while browsing websites that contain malicious files, as your personal data is used in potential cyber attacks, so this feature may be necessary to protect your privacy while browsing suspicious websites. In general, this feature provides a state of privacy during the browsing session, as the browsing history of websites during this session cannot be tracked in any way, at least this is what Google clearly confirms.
However, many cybersecurity experts believe that this feature may not provide a completely hidden experience, as it does not delete some temporary traces and data in the random memory, which can be exploited to access some information about the hidden browsing session, and therefore it cannot be considered a complete substitute for the necessary security measures when browsing the Internet, especially suspicious sites.
What's even more worrying is that browser developers may not be honest about the privacy of incognito browsing sessions. Browsers may secretly send information about Chrome's incognito mode sessions to companies, putting users' privacy at risk, especially in the event of a cloud data breach.
File a lawsuit against Google!
In a major surprise, a number of Google Chrome users filed a lawsuit against the company in the United States in 2020, accusing it of violating the privacy agreement with users and keeping incognito browsing records. This puts Google in an embarrassing position in front of its users’ trust, especially after its constant emphasis on ensuring the privacy of Chrome’s incognito mode.
The lawsuit alleges that Google has been tracking the incognito browsing history of Google Chrome users, as well as collecting their data when they enable incognito mode. This accusation indicates a clear violation of Google's pledge to maintain users' privacy while using its popular Google Chrome browser.
Things get even more complicated as the lawsuit says Google violated the federal Wiretapping Act, alleging that Google used deceptive and fraudulent methods to convince users of false privacy, in order to collect their browsing data and records.
The lawsuit added that Google relied on web software tools on various sites, and used them to extract data even when the user was in Chrome's incognito mode, raising questions about how private incognito browsing sessions actually are.
Google's position on the lawsuit raises doubts!
Initially, Google insisted on firmly rejecting the accusations against it, stressing its full commitment to privacy standards. During three years of legal disputes, Google tried by all means to use its legal arsenal to end this case. However, the judge in charge of the case refused to end the case in Google's favor in August 2023, which eventually prompted Google to agree to start the settlement procedures for this case.
In a suspicious move, Google made changes to its incognito browsing policy just weeks after agreeing to settle the lawsuit. What's even more mysterious is that Google didn't publicly announce these new changes, but they were spotted and posted online by a user after accidentally discovering them in Google Chrome update 122.
The changes included a change in the main phrase describing the incognito browsing feature, which used to give a general and vague picture of this feature, but after the update, the incognito browsing window now clearly states that using this feature may not result in the collection of browsing data.
This move represents an official admission from Google that it may collect some data while running incognito mode in Google Chrome, but it only announced this after it was officially accused of deceiving users about this feature.
Google deletes billions of user records
A few days ago, Google's announcement that it would delete billions of records collected through Chrome's incognito mode caused a huge shock and sparked a lot of discussions on the Internet. It seems that Google was not only collecting this data, but was also secretly using it to improve its advertising strategies.
The allegations indicate that Google has been collecting this data since the launch of Chrome's incognito mode in 2008, and has used it to design advertising campaigns on its Google AdSense platform, which is considered one of the largest advertising platforms on the Internet.
The lawsuit seeks to compensate Google for those affected by the privacy breach, with estimates that the damages could exceed $5 billion, with a demand for payments of up to $5,000 per affected user.
This case highlights the importance of protecting personal privacy online, and reminds us that in this digital age, we must be careful and informed about how we handle our personal data, and be aware that data collection has become a commercial game for technology companies.
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