WASHINGTON, May 19 – The Google search engine is collecting data on users who believe they can be anonymous if they use a “private browsing” mode, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed on Thursday and filed an expanded privacy lawsuit against Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) entity.
Texas, Indiana, Washington State and the District of Columbia filed separate lawsuits against Google in state courts in January alleging fraudulent location tracking practices that invade users’ privacy.
Paxton Adds Google’s Incognito Mode to Lawsuit Filed in January Incognito mode, or “private browsing,” is a web browser feature that Paxton says means Google doesn’t track search history or location activity.
The lawsuit states that Google offers a “private browsing” option, which “could include viewing highly personal websites that might reveal, for example, your medical history, political opinions or sexual orientation.” Or maybe they just want to buy a surprise gift without the gift recipient being warned by a barrage of targeted ads.”
According to the lawsuit, “In reality, Google deceptively collects a range of personally identifiable information even when a user has incognito mode enabled.”
Google said Thursday that Paxton’s filing was again “based on inaccurate claims and outdated claims about our settings. We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data.”
“We strongly deny these claims and will vigorously defend ourselves to set the record straight,” it added.
Paxton previously claimed Google misled consumers by continuing to track their location even when users tried to prevent it.
Google has a “location history” setting, and if you turn it off, it will let users know “the places you visit will no longer be saved,” Texas said.
In January, an Arizona judge ruled that allegations that Google misled users with unclear smartphone location tracking settings should be considered by a jury, refusing to dismiss an attorney general’s lawsuit.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio and Himani Sarkar
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