Leaked emails show that Google employees DECIDE the company’s ‘incognito mode’ browser — saying it’s “not really private” — as a consumer lawsuit seeks BILLIONS in damages for the company’s false promises Google employees mock the company’s fake ad for ‘incognito mode’ option for private browsing of leaked emails from 2018 Engineers at the company suggested the tech giant shut down the ‘incognito mode’ name after an investigation was released into browsers’ lack of protection A judge in Oakland, California, will review the emails along with other documentation and decide whether to proceed with a consumer lawsuit targeting the position
Leaked emails show that Google employees made fun of the company’s “incognito mode” browser feature, saying it wasn’t “truly private” as the tech giant suggests.
In a series of emails cited in a California lawsuit on behalf of one million users, in 2018 employees suggested the company stop misleadingly advertise its incognito feature on Google, which supposedly allows users to “browse privately.” to prevent others from using a shared device. to view the search history.
The lawsuit alleges that the private browsing option with an outline of a mystery man wearing glasses and a detective hat is misleading because Google can still view consumer data, according to Bloomberg.
“We need to stop calling it incognito and stop using the Spy Guy icon,” an email chain technician said in 2018 after investigating the browser’s lack of security.
Another technician responded with a meme from the Simpsons television show episode in which a Homer Simpson look-alike called “Guy Incognito” was shown identical to the show’s main character, but with a mustache, suit and top hat.
The engineer joked that Guy Incognito’s costume ‘accurately reflects the level of privacy’ [the browser] provides.’
The judge will decide on Tuesday whether the lawsuit will continue. If found liable, Google could be fined to pay billions to consumers.
Google faces lawsuit after consumers suggest the company’s incognito browser isn’t actually private
The emails of the employees of the lawsuit sites from 2018 suggesting the company to stop the false advertising of the private browsing feature
An employee joked that the Incognito icon should be a Homer Simpson look-alike named Guy Incognito was shown identical to the show’s main character but with a mustache, suit and top hat
Lorraine Twohill, Google’s chief of marketing, sent an email to CEO Sundar Pichai last year on International Data Privacy Day, asking the tech giant to become more private, Bloomberg said.
“Make Incognito Mode really private,” Twohill wrote in an email. “We’re limited in how much we can market Incognito because it’s not really private, so it needs some really vague, healing language that’s almost more damaging.”
Twohill’s email and other employee documentation are among court documents set to be reviewed in a courtroom in Oakland, California, on Tuesday.
Google’s incognito mode advertises that other users can’t view browsing history, but doesn’t say the tech giant can’t view data.
“Privacy controls have long been built into our services and we encourage our teams to continually discuss or consider ideas for improving them,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
“Incognito mode provides users with a private browsing experience, and we’ve been clear about how it works and what it does, while the plaintiffs in this case purposely mischaracterized our statements.”
The lawsuit further cites an email sent to CEO Sundar Pichai last year in which he urged to make the tech giant more private to consumers.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will review the case. If found liable, Google could owe millions of consumers up to $1,000 per violation, according to Bloomberg.
The lawsuit also aims to hold the tech giant accountable for the lack of transparency about the incognito mode option that was believed to remain private to users.
Consumers suggest that Google change the language of its private browsing feature to make users aware that the tech giant can still collect their data.
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