Man gives a reality check on Google Incognito which is 'not that private' and people are stunned

The perpetual advancements in technology have given us endless benefits. However, it comes at the cost of our privacy and it's nearly impossible for us to do something about it. For instance, Google offers an option to browse privately through the incognito mode but many on the internet are still questioning its authenticity. We never know if we are being tracked or listened to. Thunder Keck (@thunder_keck) posted a video on TikTok about this privacy concern and it amassed over 440K views. Explaining why incognito mode is not what we expect it to be, Keck directed us to a benefit we might have.

Asking the viewers if they've seen the incognito mode icon, Keck who is a Stanford student said, "If you have, you might be able to get a piece of the 5-billion-dollar class action lawsuit against Google." He then explained the reason behind this "least shocking" lawsuit. Apparently, Google's incognito mode was proven to be deceptive as it worked against the privacy of individuals. "They're still tracking you and selling your data," said Keck sending many into a cold sweat. What truly surprised him was that many people still weren't aware of this.

"Incognito mode and private browsing on Safari is basically the same as clearing your history. Sites can still see who you are. Apple and Google still record what you do," said Keck. The student highlighted that people who were using tools like Wire Shark while sharing a network could easily get a hold of our browser activities. "Even if you are using a VPN, people can still look at your packets and use fingerprinting to figure out which sites you're visiting," informed Keck. Despite these privacy threats, he said that artificial intelligence is also contributing to tracking our online activities. 

So, from Keck's revelation, it's quite evident that we almost have no way out of these privacy threats if we often use Google. But there's an upper side to this and that is the outcome of the lawsuit against Google which can gain us some dollars. "Go get that bag from Google. I'll post a video when you can sign up to get a slice of that 5 billion," said Keck. His caption read, "Google is always watching," and people couldn't agree more with him. 

Though many of them were aware of it, they still ranted about how maddening this was. "They never claimed it was- what the actual disclaimer for incognito mode says is that it won't put whatever you look at in your history. That's all," commented @jonnoau85, to which Keck replied, "I guess for a period of time it was slightly different and the court thought it was misleading." Another user (@jebwt) pointed out, "It's not like it says that clearly when you open an incognito tab." "No wonder there are white vans outside my house," joked @xrcftbl.

According to NPR, the $5 billion lawsuit condemning Google spying on people using the "incognito" mode in its Chrome browser to track their internet usage is about to be settled by the tech giant. The 2020 privacy lawsuit claimed that the company had misled people and garnered their data even while using the "private" mode. The final settlement is about to be sorted out by February 24 and as per Keck's information, we might as well benefit from it.