A Google spokesperson said the new requests were “unwarranted and excessive”. (File)
Plaintiffs accusing Alphabet Inc’s Google of illegally tracking their internet usage while in “Incognito” browsing mode can question CEO Sundar Pichai for up to two hours, a judge said. The state of California has ruled.
In the June 2020 lawsuit, users accuse Google of illegally invading their privacy by tracking internet usage while the Google Chrome browser is set to “private”.
The plaintiffs are arguing that Pichai has “personal, sole knowledge” of issues related to the Chrome browser and privacy concerns, a court filing Monday showed.
A Google spokesman, Jose Castaneda, told Reuters the new claims were “baseless and excessive”.
“While we strongly oppose the claims in this case, we have cooperated with the plaintiff’s numerous claims… We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves,” Castaneda said.
Pichai was warned in 2019 that describing the company’s Incognito browsing mode as “private” was problematic, but it persisted because he didn’t want the feature “noticeable,” according to one person. court filings in September.
Following her order on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Susan van Keulen of San Jose, California, said “several documents demonstrate that specific relevant information has been forwarded to, and possibly from, from Pichai,” and thus supported a request from the plaintiff’s attorney to question him.
Earlier, Google said it clarified that Incognito only prevents data from being saved to users’ devices and is fighting the lawsuit.
The Alphabet unit’s privacy disclosures have generated legal and regulatory scrutiny in recent years amid growing public concern about online surveillance.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
