Google’s Chrome Incognito mode can keep browsing history off a device, but it was never designed to make users anonymous online. A class-action lawsuit over the feature exposed how far that distinction could be misunderstood, with Google agreeing to delete or remediate billions of private-browsing records and change how it explains Incognito to users.
The lawsuit, Brown v. Google, was filed in 2020 and alleged that Google continued collecting information about users while they browsed through Chrome’s Incognito mode and other browsers’ private-browsing modes.
The plaintiffs initially sought billions of dollars in damages, with their claims eventually putting at least $5 billion at stake. However, Google did not ultimately agree to pay $5 billion. Under the settlement, there was no class-wide monetary payout. Instead, Google agreed to data deletion and remediation measures, changes to its privacy disclosures, and additional restrictions on data collection. Plaintiffs’ lawyers valued the settlement’s non-monetary relief at more than $5 billion, with estimates reaching $7.8 billion.
The case nevertheless exposed a fundamental problem with private browsing: preventing a browser from retaining a user's history is not the same thing as preventing websites, network operators or online services from observing that user's activity.
Google employees raised concerns about Incognito
The legal dispute became particularly notable after internal Google communications surfaced during litigation.
In one email, Google Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill told CEO Sundar Pichai that the company should make Incognito "truly private." She also warned that Google could not market the feature too strongly because it was "not truly private," requiring what she described as "fuzzy, hedging language."
Other internal communications were even more critical of the feature. According to material cited in the litigation, Google employees described Incognito as "misleading" and "effectively a lie," while another employee argued that Google should stop using the Incognito name and its spy-themed icon because users could misunderstand the protection it provided. Another recommendation suggested replacing the messaging with a warning that users were not protected from Google.
These discussions mattered because the lawsuit was not simply about whether Incognito stored browsing history locally. It questioned whether users were being given a sufficiently accurate understanding of what happened to their data after it left the browser.
Google disputed the allegations and maintained that the limitations of Incognito had been communicated to users. A Google spokesperson said the company believed the lawsuit was without merit and argued that Incognito was intended to provide a private browsing experience, rather than prevent websites and services from collecting information.
What Incognito actually does
Chrome's Incognito mode does provide a real privacy function, but that function is primarily local.
When a user opens an Incognito window, Chrome starts a separate browsing session. Once all Incognito windows are closed, Chrome does not retain the browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered into forms from that session in the normal browser profile. Third-party cookies are also blocked by default in current versions of Chrome, although users can temporarily allow them for particular sites.
This makes Incognito useful in situations where the concern is another person accessing the same device.
Someone using a shared computer, for example, can browse for a gift without leaving the visited pages in Chrome's ordinary history. It can also provide a separate browsing session when a user does not want existing cookies and account sessions to carry over.
But there is an important limitation.
Incognito does not erase everything created during a session. Downloads remain on the device, and bookmarks saved during the session remain available after Incognito is closed. Signing into a website can also allow that service to associate activity with the account being used.
The key distinction is therefore simple: Incognito primarily limits what Chrome stores locally. It does not turn the internet connection into a private tunnel.
Your ISP and network administrator can still see activity
Opening an Incognito window does not prevent an internet service provider from observing network activity.
Google's own documentation states that organizations managing a network, including schools, employers and internet service providers, may be able to observe activity while a user is browsing in Incognito. Incognito also does not hide activity or location from the websites being visited.
This is an important distinction from encryption.
Chrome's HTTPS protections can encrypt traffic between a browser and an HTTPS-enabled website, helping prevent someone monitoring the connection from reading the contents of that traffic. Chrome also warns users when they are about to load
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