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Ever used Google Chrome in incognito mode? You could be entitled to up to $5k
- RadixDLT 2y agohttps://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Wilson-v-Google-Complaint-5-24-2024.pdf https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Wilso...
- drbig 2y agoLemme preempt: this is for US citizens only? I assume so. Funny how that whole globalization thing is asymmetric.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- BoppreH 2y agoYes. > Are You Eligible? > -Used Google Incognito mode between June 1, 2016 - December 1, 2023 > -Expected browsing activity to remain private > -Did not always consent to Google tracking > -Age 18+ > -US Resident
- anigbrowl 2y agoResident is not the same as citizen.
- mulmen 2y agoGlobalization is a trade policy. US courts still only have jurisdiction in the US.
- elzbardico 2y agothanks God
- wmf 2y agoLaws are local. You're welcome to file a lawsuit in your country.
- renewiltord 2y agoIf you lobby your government to make yourself subject to US laws then you should be able to do this.
- remram 2y agoI am a US resident who is not a citizen, and I have gotten money from class actions. If you are a resident somewhere else you should be able to file a lawsuit there.
- chungy 2y agoIf I was presiding over this case, I'd throw it out. It's never been misleading about what it is: it doesn't save stuff to your hard disk. That says nothing about remote servers.
- conductr 2y agoYes I tend to agree although the word "incognito" conveys something that it is not, so one could argue the very premise of it is misleading
- chungy 2y agoI suppose if you don't read. If you open an incognito tab you are greeted with this text: "You’ve gone Incognito Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won't change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more"
- conductr 2y agoThat's why I tend to agree. IANAL and while this seems pretty simple for me to understand, I'm not certain that laypeople wouldn't also expect full anonymity based on some other aspect of the service and I'm not sure if this has been stated so succinctly since back in 2016. I think there's an argument to be made and if so, the case shouldn't been just tossed out without allowing them to make it
- autoexec 2y ago> If you open an incognito tab you are greeted with this text: "You’ve gone Incognito Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won't change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more" They edited that because of the lawsuit. Before the lawsuit what it said was: "Now you can browse privately, and other people who use this device won’t see your activity. However, downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more" I think it's understandable that someone would take "you can browse privately" to mean "We aren't tracking what you do"
- sltkr 2y agoIt's hilarious that the sketchy lawyers behind this site demand to know the “[..] details on the nature of your searches, websites visited and or purchases made [in Incognito mode]”.
- dsizzle 2y agoSimilar energy lol: https://theonion.com/ob-gyn-assures-woman-he-respects-doctor-slut-confidentiality/ https://theonion.com/ob-gyn-assures-woman-he-respects-doctor...
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoThat's hilarious
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoI watched hella porn
- wmf 2y agoIn theory you should only get paid if you were actually harmed. For example, I didn't apply for the Sony PS3 Linux class action because I never installed Linux so I never lost anything when they took Linux away. Getting back to this case, I suspect virtually no one can list specific harms due to incognito mode being slightly less incognito than they thought.
- autoexec 2y ago> I didn't apply for the Sony PS3 Linux class action because I never installed Linux so I never lost anything when they took Linux away. I'd argue that you lost the ability to install linux on your device. You may have never made the choice to install it, but the option was yours, Sony advertised that it was an option you'd have if you gave them your money and then they took that from you after they got your cash. That said, I would agree that the people most harmed should be the most compensated.
- djbusby 2y ago
- ronald_petty 2y agoAre we talking about Chrome incognito mode? What is Google’s Incognito “private browsing” per the website. Details matter.
- joatmon-snoo 2y agoYep, it’s Chrome’s incognito mode. The lawsuit describes it as “private browsing”.
- laweijfmvo 2y agoNah, you'll probably get $3.84 and the law firm handling it will get several hundred million.
- disillusioned 2y agoThis isn't a class action, it's a large binding arbitration case, and so the awards can be individually opted into while being negotiated en masse. There was a similar case with a well known speaker company, and the payouts for that were several hundred dollars, and there's another one that's ongoing for Steam/Valve along these same lines. The attorney's fees come out of a percentage of the individual award, which can be much higher in these cases.
- asne11 2y agoOr, a bill for costs after you lose.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- tedunangst 2y agoWhat's the "down to" amount?
- BlindEyeHalo 2y ago$0 because this case has not yet gone to court.
- sockaddr 2y agoActually worse than that. By joining you agree to allow the lawyers to collect from you in the event of a loss. I’d stay far far away from this one.
- skobes 2y agoIn case it isn't clear, this case hasn't reached any settlement. A complaint has been filed, but any entitlements of class members are entirely hypothetical at this stage.
- vilhelm_s 2y agoNo, it was settled a few months ago. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/lawyers-want-217-million-for-settling-google-incognito-case https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/lawyers-... > The plaintiffs had asked for $5 billion in damages, but the settlement provided no monetary relief. Individuals will be allowed to file claims in state courts, and Boies Schiller lawyers have said they already filed more than 1,000 such cases in California state court, with plans to file many more.
- skobes 2y agoSorry I got confused by another commenter here who linked to the complaint in Wilson v. Google, No. 24-cv-03176 (N.D. Cal.), filed in May 2024. But now I see that case is not even about incognito mode.
- bhelkey 2y agoI don't know if this text was always there but today, when I use incognito mode, I see: > Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won't change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved. Learn more > Chrome won’t save: * Your browsing history * Cookies and site data * Information entered in forms > Your activity might still be visible to: * Websites you visit * Your employer or school * Your internet service provider
- gmurphy 2y agoThe original text was longer, but it was very clear that "incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software" and included examples. You can see it in the original announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d1_ool4r7s&t=1503s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d1_ool4r7s&t=1503s
- zrobotics 2y agoI don't recall exactly from memory, but at least the part that states "your activity might still be visible..." has been there for years, the work or school phrasing stuck in my memory since I found it slightly humorous when opening an incognito tab on my personal machines. I just don't see how that warning could be much clearer, it's certainly written in a way that even a non-technical person can understand. Now whether users read warning messages is a different story...
- 56h5h65h6h 2y ago[dead]
- ssalka 2y agoIs it just me, or was it always clear that the only thing Incognito mode does is not write to your local browser history? Google's gonna Google, and that means collecting as much of your information as possible. Maybe I'm just jaded & tech-savvy, but I figured way more people would have understood this.
- wmf 2y agoIncognito also uses separate cookies from your main session which is the tracking that people are concerned about.
- fnfjfk 2y agoThat’s my take, that it has always been understood to be “stuff you don’t want in your browser history” mode.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y ago> Maybe I'm just jaded & tech-savvy, The tech-savvy part is what matters. Try asking a non-technical relative what they think Incognito does, if they even know that it even exists.
- Ferret7446 2y agoIt's not "tech-savvy". It's "has half a brain cell", which unfortunately... I can assure you that there are tech illiterate people who can read and think and have no problems understanding incognito mode. Then there are people who can't read or think (definitely not at the same time), which is highly correlated with being tech illiterate.
- Sohcahtoa82 2y agoIn a perfect world, I'd agree. But modern computing appeals to the lowest common denominator. Tech illiterate people really know nothing. My in-laws didn't know that who their home internet provider is has no effect on how their phones work when they're not at home.
- Abismith 2y ago[dead]
- renewiltord 2y agoThis Bivens guy has tried a bunch of ads for this stuff. I'm in his Gamestop case, and others. You go sign some agreement allowing him to represent you and maybe he gets you some money. He never actually does, though. He's obviously trying to shake down a bunch of companies and you'll never see a dime. But I sign up for class actions all the time. After all, other people will anyway so it's going to run. So it's a tax on all these corps and I'd like to get my money. Through a different litigation I got $500 on Stubhub once. That's pretty good.
- e79 2y agoIf you were to participate, could Google then refuse to hire you or generally do business with you?
- joezydeco 2y agoYeah, I would be kind of careful here if you have a Workspace domain with them (like I do).
- bhaney 2y agoI get money and Google no longer tries to interact with me? Win-win.
- 101008 2y agoThis is important. I can't apply (not US resident), but I would think a lot about doing if I could. Is 5k worth the risk that in a year Google decides to shut down my Gmail and everything in my account with it? No. I know it sounds as Google has me kidnapped... which may be (and it could be my fault for not migrate to a different service, but the social part of migrating, not the technical part, is what worries me)
- bhaney 2y agoIt's absolutely insane to me that people can be scared of participating in legal processes against a megacorporation for fear that the megacorp will retaliate by holding their accounts hostage, but then not do anything to remove their reliance on those services. Start migrating your damn email! It sounds like Google has you kidnapped because they pretty much do, and you're letting them!
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- iandanforth 2y agoHow are people expected to answer the usage questions accurately?
- puppycodes 2y agopretty sure this will sell your email to data brokers and you possibly maybe will get a check in the mail for $2.01 in ten years.
- tlhunter 2y agoThe other day I received a $250 check from a different Google class action lawsuit. I get a few of these payouts a year. Hell, I even have a Gmail label for keeping track of them!
- omershapira 2y ago> Do you recall any specific browsing sessions during these times?(Required) lol
- cm2012 2y agoIncognito mood has always been clear about what data is private. This lawsuit is ridiculous and I hope it fails in court.
- gunalx 2y agoUS only. Should be clarified in title or subtitle
- pringularity 2y agoThe date of birth section only lets you select January through June lol.
- rjmorris 2y agoOnly for 2006. All months are available for earlier years.
- ruined 2y agothis form doesnt work in firefox on my device
- asne11 2y agoStay away, you may end up owing money. From the Retainer Agreement: > XVI. FIRM DOES NOT GUARANTEE RESULT > I understand that there is always a risk to litigation. If I were to lose a case, under some circumstances, I may have to pay costs and/or attorney fees to the prevailing party. I acknowledge that FIRM has made no guarantee regarding the successful termination of my case and all expressions about the relative chances of success are matters of opinion only.
- rtcode_io 2y agoAre US Companies as legal entities entitled to this too?
- mdrzn 2y ago"Are You Eligible? -Used Google Incognito mode between June 1, 2016 - December 1, 2023 -Expected browsing activity to remain private -Did not always consent to Google tracking -Age 18+ -US Resident"
- geor9e 2y agoThis is an ad so I flagged it. They're fishing for info but the bait is fake. If there was only 1 victim, they could get $5k, but there are too many people. Whenever a lot of victims obviously exist for something, courts will reject the individual cases and tell them to do a class action. They know this, so this law firms ulterior motive is showing a list of victims and then looking for one perfect token plaintiff to represent a class action suit, and be the star of an 18 month court process. This form is just a waste of time. Just wait until the trial is over, and if they settle, youll be able to sign up as a class member and get the $5 Venmo credit these things typically pay out.
- vilhelm_s 2y agoIt's the other way around, there was a class action, but the eventual outcome was that everyone needs to sue individually instead.