A California judge has denied Google’s request for summary judgement in a class action lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the online activity of Chrome users even when they were using the browser in its privacy-oriented Incognito mode. The lawsuit claims that Google is deceiving customers into believing that they have control over the information they share with the company when they use Chrome’s private browsing mode, and in doing so, violates federal wiretap laws. The proposed class action seeks $5,000 in damages per user for violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws, amounting to at least $5 billion. Google has said it will defend itself “vigorously’ against the claims. The denied request for summary judgement now moves the case closer toward settlement or a trial.
