Published
January 12, 2024
Updated
July 29, 2026
This class action accused Google of collecting browsing data from people who were using Chrome's Incognito mode or another browser's private mode. It settled in 2024 for data deletion and disclosure changes only — there is no settlement fund, no claim form and no payment to class members.
Current Status
There is no claim process in this case and there never was one. The certified class was an injunctive-relief class, so the settlement changes what Google does with private-browsing data instead of paying class members, and no claim form, notice ID or deadline exists. The settlement agreement and an unopposed motion for final approval were filed on April 1, 2024, and the district court docket set the final approval hearing for July 30, 2024. As of July 29, 2026, no final approval order and no payment date had been located in public sources — a scheduled hearing is not an approval order. The most recent public development is the Ninth Circuit decision of April 20, 2026 described below.StatusNo Claim Process — Final Approval Order Not LocatedFinal approval hearing set for July 30, 2024; no order located as of July 29, 2026.
Claim DeadlineNoneThere is no claim form to file and no deadline to miss.
Class Payment$0 — No Settlement FundRelief is data deletion and product changes; class members kept their individual damages claims.
Proof RequiredNot applicableNo claim process exists, so there is nothing to document or verify.
What Changed Recently
On April 20, 2026 the Ninth Circuit issued a published opinion in Brown v. Salcido, No. 24-5692, affirming the district court's refusal to let a group of roughly 185 Chrome users intervene in the case. Those users moved to intervene on July 2, 2024, about a month before the final approval hearing, saying they wanted to preserve the ability to appeal the earlier denial of a damages class. The district court denied the motion as untimely on August 12, 2024, and the appeals court agreed the request came too late, calling it "too little, too late." The practical effect is that this case remains an injunctive-relief case with no class-wide damages route.What the Case Was About
The complaint, filed in June 2020 in the Northern District of California, alleged that Google continued to receive browsing data through Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager and website plug-ins while people browsed in Chrome Incognito mode or in the private modes of other browsers, and that Google's Incognito disclosures did not make that clear. Plaintiffs brought claims under the federal Wiretap Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act and related privacy theories.Google denied the allegations. It argued that its disclosures told users private browsing keeps activity off the device but does not hide it from the websites they visit or from services those websites use. The settlement resolves the class claims without any admission of wrongdoing or liability.
Who Was Covered
In December 2022 the court certified a class for classwide injunctive relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and declined to certify a damages class, finding that individual questions predominated over common ones. Broadly, the injunctive class covered people with a Google account who visited a non-Google website carrying Google tracking or advertising code while browsing in Chrome Incognito mode and not signed in to their Google account, together with a parallel group who used private browsing in other browsers such as Safari or Microsoft Edge. The class period ran from June 1, 2016. Reporting at the time of the settlement described the class as covering roughly 136 million people.What Google Agreed to Do
The settlement is a package of product and data-handling commitments rather than money. Under the agreement Google was to:• Delete or remediate billions of stored data records reflecting class members' private browsing activity.
• Rewrite the Chrome Incognito disclosures so users are told what websites and Google can still receive during private browsing. Google updated the Incognito splash screen in January 2024.
• Block third-party cookies by default in Incognito mode for five years.
• Stop using the private-browsing detection signal that flagged whether a user was browsing privately.
Why There Is No Payment
Because the certified class was an injunctive-relief class, the settlement creates no fund and pays class members nothing. That is also why there is no notice program, no claim form and no settlement administrator here — the usual claim machinery only exists where there is money to distribute.The $5 billion figure attached to this case in headlines was the damages amount the plaintiffs originally sought, not an amount Google agreed to pay. Class counsel separately valued the injunctive relief at more than $5 billion in their filings; that is an estimate of the value of the relief, not a payment.
Class counsel asked the court to award roughly $217 million in attorneys' fees, and the court signaled it was unlikely to award that full amount. Any fee award in this case is paid by Google and does not reduce a class recovery, because there is no class fund. As of July 29, 2026, no fee order had been located in public sources.
Can Class Members Still Seek Money From Google?
Yes, in the sense that the settlement did not release individual damages claims. Class members remain free to bring their own claims against Google over the conduct at issue, and reporting following the April 2024 settlement filing described individual claims being filed in state court and the named plaintiffs pursuing their own damages in arbitration. Separate filing deadlines apply to any such individual claim, and this settlement does not extend them.What Happens Next
The steps left on the public record are the district court's ruling on final approval of the settlement and its ruling on the fee request. As of July 29, 2026, neither order had been located in public sources. There is no payment schedule to track, because the settlement distributes no money to the class. The Ninth Circuit appeal over intervention was resolved on April 20, 2026.Other Google Privacy Cases
Google has resolved several other privacy class actions with cash relief, and some are still accepting claims. Related pages on this site include the $68 million Google Assistant privacy settlement, the Google Play children's privacy settlement, the $350 million California Android cellular data settlement, the earlier $23 million Google search referrer settlement and the $100 million Illinois biometric privacy settlement over Google Photos. If you are new to how this kind of case works, our explainer on personally identifiable information covers the terminology.Sources
• Brown et al. v. Google LLC, No. 4:20-cv-03664-YGR (N.D. Cal.) — docket on CourtListener• Brown v. Salcido, No. 24-5692 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2026) — published opinion (PDF)
• Brown v. Salcido opinion summary — Justia
• Reporting on the April 1, 2024 settlement filing and its terms — TIME
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Case Caption
Brown et al. v. Google LLC, No. 4:20-cv-03664-YGR
Court
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Claims
Federal Wiretap Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, related privacy claims
Class Certified
Injunctive relief class under Rule 23(b)(2), December 2022
A damages class was not certified.
Class Payment
None — no settlement fund
Relief
Data deletion and remediation, Incognito disclosure changes, third-party cookies blocked by default in Incognito for five years
Final Approval Hearing
July 30, 2024
No final approval order located as of July 29, 2026.
Appeal
Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of intervention, April 20, 2026
Status
No Claim Process — Final Approval Order Not Located
