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To the tech crowd that visits HN, it's obvious what Incognito did and didn't do. But imagine your non-technical family members. You know, the type that calls

To the tech crowd that visits HN, it's obvious what Incognito did and didn't do. But imagine your non-technical family members. You know, the type that calls you up for tech support on a regular basis because "you know computers". Someone tells them "Hey, you should be using Incognito when doing adult activities" and then gets caught browsing adult sites on a work computer because they thought Incognito would make it invisible. This lawsuit isn't for you and me, it's for them. The question is, since WE know what it did, is it ethical (or even legal) for us to join the class action? Personally, even if it was legal, and even if someone convinced me it wasn't unethical, I wouldn't do it. I don't want to risk Google being like "You joined a lawsuit against us, so we don't want to do business with you. Say goodbye to your entire Google account. This locks you out of your phone? Too damn bad."

31337Logic 2y ago
You make it sound like being free of Google is a bad thing. :-/
- tourmalinetaco 2y ago
  Having your data unexpectedly lost to you (yet still being funneled into their AI) is never a good feeling.
Manuel_D 2y ago
From the incognito mode landing page: > Your activity might still be visible to: > Your employer or school If they want to blame someone for being caught watching adult content at work, blame the person who told them "Hey, you should be using Incognito when doing adult activities"
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
bengoodger 2y ago
Incognito clearly states how it works every time you start it, including what it doesn't protect against. If we're saying that developers can't clearly and obviously state how things work, and are instead bound by however people think they work based on not reading anything at all, we're in a lot of trouble. Though... can we at least then get rid of every intrusive TOS screen and cookie banner in existence? Because people click past all of those too without reading them.
bee_rider 2y ago
It is pretty annoying that some folks here seem to be trying to make it into a tech competency issue or something. I understand how it works, everybody on this site does, as you note it is obvious to anybody who knows how the internet works. Zero points for meeting the minimum standard. But, the name is “Incognito mode.” The icon is a little spy. If somebody doesn’t understand how this is misleading to non-technical people, they might have computer literacy, but they desperately lack human literacy.
- zamadatix 2y ago
  Incognito mode explicitly explains, in a very concise summary, what using the mode implies and doesn't imply every single time the user opens it.
  - Dalewyn 2y ago
    Your first error is assuming people read program messages.
    - zamadatix 2y ago
      If people finding small icons and text in menus to come to incorrect conclusions about what that means is a fine and reasonable thing to expect but noting the page sized display that loads every time they click said content is a foolish error then sure, I've probably got a whole truckload of errors on the topic.
      - Dalewyn 2y ago
        >noting the page sized display that loads every time they click said content I kindly direct you to alarm fatigue[1], banner blindness[2], and inattentional blindness[3]. The TL;DR is that the more often and worthless a piece of information is presented, the more likely people are going to ignore it either deliberately or habitually. The flavor text for Incognito Mode pops up every single time an Incognito window is opened and it is practically inconsequential, thus it is worthless information. People will not read it, and you should not assume people will. It is the fault of the Chrome(ium) designers for presenting information in a way people will ignore; we've known this ever since the first guy who would insta-close every single error message while the tech support agent on the phone with him is desperately begging him to read out WTF the error says. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_blindness [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness
_imnothere 2y ago
> Say goodbye to your entire Google account. This locks you out of your phone? Too damn bad. Another lawsuit for them then.

31337Logic 2y ago

You make it sound like being free of Google is a bad thing. :-/

tourmalinetaco 2y ago
Having your data unexpectedly lost to you (yet still being funneled into their AI) is never a good feeling.

Manuel_D 2y ago

From the incognito mode landing page: > Your activity might still be visible to: > Your employer or school If they want to blame someone for being caught watching adult content at work, blame the person who told them "Hey, you should be using Incognito when doing adult activities"

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

bengoodger 2y ago

Incognito clearly states how it works every time you start it, including what it doesn't protect against. If we're saying that developers can't clearly and obviously state how things work, and are instead bound by however people think they work based on not reading anything at all, we're in a lot of trouble. Though... can we at least then get rid of every intrusive TOS screen and cookie banner in existence? Because people click past all of those too without reading them.

bee_rider 2y ago

It is pretty annoying that some folks here seem to be trying to make it into a tech competency issue or something. I understand how it works, everybody on this site does, as you note it is obvious to anybody who knows how the internet works. Zero points for meeting the minimum standard. But, the name is “Incognito mode.” The icon is a little spy. If somebody doesn’t understand how this is misleading to non-technical people, they might have computer literacy, but they desperately lack human literacy.

zamadatix 2y ago
Incognito mode explicitly explains, in a very concise summary, what using the mode implies and doesn't imply every single time the user opens it.
- Dalewyn 2y ago
  Your first error is assuming people read program messages.
  - zamadatix 2y ago
    If people finding small icons and text in menus to come to incorrect conclusions about what that means is a fine and reasonable thing to expect but noting the page sized display that loads every time they click said content is a foolish error then sure, I've probably got a whole truckload of errors on the topic.
    - Dalewyn 2y ago
      >noting the page sized display that loads every time they click said content I kindly direct you to alarm fatigue[1], banner blindness[2], and inattentional blindness[3]. The TL;DR is that the more often and worthless a piece of information is presented, the more likely people are going to ignore it either deliberately or habitually. The flavor text for Incognito Mode pops up every single time an Incognito window is opened and it is practically inconsequential, thus it is worthless information. People will not read it, and you should not assume people will. It is the fault of the Chrome(ium) designers for presenting information in a way people will ignore; we've known this ever since the first guy who would insta-close every single error message while the tech support agent on the phone with him is desperately begging him to read out WTF the error says. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarm_fatigue [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banner_blindness [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inattentional_blindness

_imnothere 2y ago

> Say goodbye to your entire Google account. This locks you out of your phone? Too damn bad. Another lawsuit for them then.