Why a $425 Million Verdict Proves It’s Time to Go Beyond ‘Incognito’
In a significant blow to Big Tech, a federal jury in San Francisco has delivered a resounding message about user privacy, ordering Google to pay a staggering $425 million. The verdict concludes a class-action lawsuit filed in July 2020 on behalf of nearly 100 million people who believed they had opted out of Google’s data collection.
The case centered on a key privacy setting in Google accounts called “Web & App Activity.” For years, users were led to believe that by turning this feature off, they would stop Google from harvesting their data. As a complaint from the plaintiffs bluntly put it, Google was a “voyeur extraordinaire” that was “always watching”. The lawsuit alleged that even with the setting disabled, the company continued to collect, save, and use data from millions of users’ mobile devices by secretly leveraging its partnerships with popular apps like Uber, Venmo, and Instagram.
While a jury found Google liable on two of the three privacy violation claims, it did not find the company had acted with malice, sparing it from the over $31 billion in punitive damages the plaintiffs had originally sought. Google, for its part, has maintained its innocence throughout the trial, with a spokesperson stating the verdict “misunderstands how our products work” and that the company will appeal.
This isn’t an isolated incident for the search giant. The verdict is the latest in a series of privacy-related legal battles for Google, including a recent settlement to destroy billions of records that a separate lawsuit claimed were secretly tracked from users in the company’s own “Incognito” browsing mode. This pattern highlights a critical and persistent problem: the gap between user expectations of privacy and the reality of how our data is being handled.
The very word “Incognito” has come to represent a common misconception about online privacy. Many believe that activating a browser’s incognito mode makes them completely anonymous online. In reality, while it keeps your browsing history, cookies, and temporary site data from being saved on your device, it does little to protect you from the outside world. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can still see your browsing activity, websites you visit can still see your IP address, and your employer or school network can still monitor your traffic.
This is why, for many users, a dedicated solution is needed—a truly private experience that goes beyond simply hiding browsing history. For Android users looking to reclaim their digital autonomy, finding a reliable and feature-rich option is key. While many browsers offer a private mode, few are built from the ground up to protect your privacy by default.
This is where the Incognito Browser app comes in, distinguishing itself as arguably the best free privacy browser for android. Unlike a standard browser’s limited incognito mode, this app is designed to provide genuine privacy. With Incognito Browser, all your data—including history, cookies, and sessions—is automatically wiped the moment you close the app, leaving no digital footprint behind. It offers a suite of advanced features, including a robust ad-blocker that lets you view content without interruptions, and “Agent Cloaking,” which helps hide your browser and device identity from websites. For those who want more control over their search experience, it provides the ability to choose from multiple search engines, including Google, DuckDuckGo, and Bing.
The $425 million verdict against Google serves as a powerful reminder that relying on the privacy assurances of large tech companies can be a risky gamble. For true peace of mind and genuine online anonymity, a dedicated, purpose-built tool is necessary. By using a browser like Incognito Browser, you can take back control of your data and ensure that your online activities are truly private.
