Google LLC has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused it of misleading users about the privacy protections provided by Chrome’s incognito browsing feature.

The agreement was reported today by Ars Technica, which cited court documents filed on Tuesday.

If users open an incognito tab in Chrome, the browser automatically deletes the associated cookies and website data when the browsing session ends. However, the feature doesn’t stop online services from tracking users’ activity. Chrome displays a disclaimer that reads “your activity might still be visible to websites you visit.”

In 2020, three consumers sued Google over the way its browser’s incognito mode is implemented. The class-action lawsuit claimed millions of people used the feature under the false impression that it keeps their online activity private. The plaintiffs sought at least $5,000 in damages per affected user, which added up to more than $5 billion.

The case placed a particular emphasis on the way Google collects data about Chrome users while the browser’s incognito mode is enabled. According to the plaintiffs, the company collected user data using Google Ads and the Google Analytics traffic monitoring tool embedded into many websites. The lawsuit charged that the search giant gathered information about users’ devices, IP addresses and the contents of the webpages they visited.

The plaintiffs made the argument that Google’s data collection practices amounted to a breach of wiretap laws. Additionally, the lawsuit accused the search giant of associating the data it collected on users while Chrome’s incognito mode was enabled with those users’ existing advertising profiles.

Google requested that the case be dismissed earlier this year. The company’s argument focused on the disclaimer in the Chrome interface that notifies users their data may be collected by websites even when incognito mode is active. The judge presiding over the case rejected the argument, stating in a ruling that “because Google never explicitly told users that it does so, the court cannot find as a matter of law that users explicitly consented to the at-issue data collection.”

The case was scheduled to go to trial in the District Court for the Northern District of California next February. According to Reuters, the trial was put on hold earlier this week after Google and the plaintiffs disclosed that they had reached a preliminary settlement. The parties inked the deal in the form of a “binding term sheet” that has not yet been published.

Google and the plaintiffs will reportedly present the agreement to the court by the end of January. The deal is set to receive approval by the end of February.

Image: Google