Changes to Chrome's incognito mode after Google's hefty $5 billion fine

Towards the end of 2023, Google I faced a huge legal headache because of this Hidden mode it's known Chrom Her browser.

More specifically, the common belief that incognito browsing provides complete anonymity online has been challenged. The tech giant was accused of continuing to track users until then, although the feature is theoretically used for private web browsing. Indeed, Google agreed to pay $5 billion for this matter! Meanwhile, the lawsuit in question highlighted the company's failure to clearly inform users that their data was being monitored when using this function.

In the wake of this legal misadventure and to allay subsequent public concerns, Google is now preparing to make some changes to Chrome's incognito mode. Specifically, the browser will now include a clear disclaimer in incognito mode, with the goal of providing clearer information about online tracking. These changes are already available in Canary beta and will soon arrive for everyone in stable versions of Chrome.

More specifically, the program will now include the following warning when someone activates incognito mode:

“Others using this device won't be able to see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won't change how data is collected from the websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Your downloads, bookmarks, and reading list items will be saved.”

Below you can see the 'before and after' through the broker's photo MSPowerUser.

Despite common misconceptions, Chrome's incognito mode does not provide complete protection from online tracking. What it basically does is prevent cookies, website data and history from being stored on the user's device. However, this does not prevent external entities, such as websites themselves and Internet Service Providers (ISP), from tracking user activities.

Of course, while this revelation is surprising to many, it is in line with previous warnings from privacy experts who have long questioned the effectiveness of Chrome's incognito mode.