Alphabet's Google has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put a scheduled Feb. 5, 2024 trial in the proposed class action on hold on Thursday, after lawyers for Google and for consumers said they had reached a preliminary settlement.
The lawsuit had sought at least US$5 billion. Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawyers said they have agreed to a binding term sheet through mediation, and expected to present a formal settlement for court approval by Feb. 24, 2024.
Neither Google nor lawyers for the plaintiff consumers immediately responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs alleged that Google's analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit track their activity even when they set Google's Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode.
They said his turned Google into an "unaccountable trove of information" by letting the company learn about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and "potentially embarrassing things" they seek out online.
In August, Rogers rejected Google's bid to dismiss the lawsuit.
She said it was an open question whether Google had made a legally binding promise not to collect users' data when they browsed in private mode. The judge cited Google's privacy policy and other statements by the company that suggested limits on what information it might collect.
Filed in 2020, the lawsuit covered "millions" of Google users since June 1, 2016, and sought at least $5,000 in damages per user for violations of federal wire-tapping and California privacy laws.
The case is Brown et al v Google LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-03664.
Members of Parliament debated the second Conservative motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government of the week on Thursday, amid simmering tensions.
Helene strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane hours ahead of its expected landfall on Florida's northwest coast Thursday night, and forecasters warned that the enormous storm could create a 'nightmare' surge in coastal areas and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern U.S.
Mounties in Nunavut have made an arrest in the murder of a 15-year-old girl almost 40 years ago.
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A Royal Canadian Navy warship was rearmed with missiles and munitions in Australia this week, marking the first ever overseas rearmament for the service's Halifax-class frigates.
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He's sold Bibles, sneakers, photo books and cryptocurrency during his third campaign for U.S. president. Now, Donald Trump is launching a new business venture: diamond-encrusted watches.
A Montana man has been arrested after witnesses said he intentionally and repeatedly swerved his car at three motorcycles in south-central Montana, running one off the road and killing its driver, officials in Carbon County said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to carry out 'full force' strikes against Hezbollah until it ceases firing rockets across the border, dimming hopes for a ceasefire proposal put forth by U.S. and European officials.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to stay in office Thursday after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of letting Turkish officials and businesspeople buy his influence with illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips
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Shots were fired late Thursday near the presidential palace in Guinea's capital Conakry, and the army locked down the city centre and evacuated it.
Members of Parliament debated the second Conservative motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government of the week on Thursday, amid simmering tensions.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have signed a statement aimed at collaborating more on issues ranging from Ukraine to foreign interference.
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A Canadian pharmaceutical company is warning consumers not to use some of its eye drops because of potential microbial growth that may result in eye infections.
Members of the Southern Georgian Bay OPP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) are sounding the alarm on a rising number of online and phone scams targeting residents.
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen feels 'extremely hopeful' about society's ability to push social media platforms into being safer but for change to come, she says these companies need to be motivated in a new way.
OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati — who has been instrumental in the development of ChatGPT and the artificial intelligence image generator Dall-E — said Wednesday she is leaving the company.
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British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after the poverty charity she founded nearly two decades ago was deemed Thursday to have been 'poorly governed' with 'inadequate financial management.'
Hoda Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the 'Today' show early next year, telling staffers 'it's time.'
A settlement was reached Thursday in a defamation lawsuit brought by electronic voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic against conservative news outlet Newsmax for airing accusations about vote manipulation in the 2020 election made by allies of former U.S. president Donald Trump.
Open AI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman (C) speaks at the Advancing Sustainable Development through Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI event on Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (Bryan R. Smith/Pool Photo via AP)
Billionaire Elon Musk's social media site X has complied with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes' orders and requested its service be re-established in the country, a source said Thursday.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
Regina and John Zdravich left the U.S. for Italy after falling in love with the European country, then unexpectedly found themselves 'homeless.'
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Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube says he doesn't think Auston Matthews' upper-body injury is too serious and expects the captain to be fine.
Daniel Ricciardo, one of the most popular and likeable drivers on the Formula 1 grid, was released by Red Bull Racing on Thursday and will be replaced immediately by Liam Lawson.
A Florida man is seeking a temporary injunction to stop Shohei Ohtani's 50th home run ball from going to auction, saying it was stolen from him moments after he secured it.
Ontario's Premier Doug Ford wants to dig Canada's largest city out of its traffic woes.
A bizarre discovery was made on a dirt road in Clearview Township.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wants to build a tunnel under Highway 401 that would stretch from Brampton to Scarborough.
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Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
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A woman driving a garbage truck died after colliding with a transport truck in Mississauga Thursday afternoon.
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Ontario Provincial Police say a motorcycle driver is dead following a crash Thursday afternoon.
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Â鶹´«Ã½ Montreal at Six for Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024 with anchor Mutsumi Takahashi.
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Advocates are demanding an apology after a staff report regarding the destruction of corn crops in Wilmot Township was found to be lacking in detail.
A man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the 2022 death of a Cambridge resident.
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As Saskatchewan awaits the election call, how are voters feeling about the leaders of Saskatchewan’s two major parties? Â鶹´«Ã½ sought to find out, in partnership with Insightrix Research.
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A Royal Canadian Navy warship was rearmed with missiles and munitions in Australia this week, marking the first ever overseas rearmament for the service's Halifax-class frigates.
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The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
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Lethbridge police have laid charges against a man accused of sexually assaulting a teen girl at a party.
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A pedestrian is dead following a collision with a commercial motor vehicle on Highway 17 west of Thunder Bay on Thursday morning.
Every other day, Derek Moonias drives 15 minutes to the airport in Neskantaga First Nation and fills his pickup truck with cases of bottled water flown in on the dime of the federal government.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
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