Google has agreed to delete billions of personal records collected from over 136 million people in the U.S. who used its Chrome web browser. This settlement comes after a lawsuit accused Google of illegal surveillance.
The lawsuit alleged that Google tracked Chrome users' internet activity even when they used the "Incognito" setting, which is supposed to shield them from being tracked. Google fought the lawsuit until a judge rejected their request to dismiss the case. The settlement was then negotiated over the next four months.
The settlement requires Google to delete billions of personal records and make more prominent privacy disclosures about Chrome's Incognito option. It also imposes other controls designed to limit Google's collection of personal information.
Consumers represented in the class-action lawsuit will not receive any damages or payments in the settlement. Google emphasized that they are only being required to delete old technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization.
The attorneys representing Chrome users valued the settlement at $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion, based on the potential ad sales that the personal information collected through Chrome could have generated.
The settlement also doesn't shield Google from more lawsuits revolving around the same issues covered in the class-action case. Individual consumers can still pursue damages against the company by filing their own civil complaints in state courts around the U.S.
Investors apparently aren't too worried about the settlement terms affecting Google's ad sales. Shares in Alphabet, Google's parent company, rose 3% after the settlement was announced.
A lawyer specializing in data privacy issues described the settlement terms as a "welcome development" that could affect the way personal information is collected online in the future. He said that the settlement prevents companies from profiting off of personal data and requires them to undertake costly data deletion efforts.
Google is still facing legal threats on the regulatory frontier that could have a far bigger impact on its business. The U.S. Justice Department has accused Google of abusing the dominance of its search engine to thwart competition and innovation. A federal judge is scheduled to hear closing arguments in the case in May before issuing a ruling in the autumn.
Google is also facing potential changes to its app store for smartphones powered by its Android software. A federal jury concluded last year that Google was running an illegal monopoly with its app store. A hearing examining possible revisions that Google may have to make to its Play Store is scheduled for late May.