A Google spokesperson said the new requests were “inappropriate and excessive”. (file)
A federal judge in California has ruled that plaintiffs who have accused Alphabet Inc.’s Google of illegally tracking their Internet use over “incognito” browsing modes can interrogate Chief Executive Sundar Pichai for up to two hours.
In a lawsuit filed in June 2020, users accused Google of illegally invading their privacy by tracking Internet usage while the Google Chrome browser was set to “private” mode.
The plaintiffs are arguing that Pichai has “unique, personal knowledge” of issues related to the Chrome browser and privacy concerns, Monday’s court filing showed.
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda told Reuters the new requests were “inappropriate and overlapping”.
“While we strongly oppose the claims in this case, we have cooperated with the plaintiffs’ countless requests … we will continue to vigorously defend ourselves,” Castaneda said.
In 2019 Pichai was warned that describing the company’s Incognito browsing mode as “private” was problematic, yet remained on course because he did not want the feature “under the spotlight” according to a court filing in September Was.
In her order on Monday, US Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen in San Jose, California, said “certain documents establish that specific relevant information was communicated to and possibly from Pichai,” and therefore rejected the request of plaintiffs’ attorneys. Supported. Question him.
Google has previously said it clarifies that Incognito only prevents data from being saved to a user’s device and is fighting the lawsuit.
The Alphabet entity’s privacy disclosures have generated regulatory and legal scrutiny in recent years amid growing public concerns about online surveillance.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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