This from Kim Komando: TODAY’S DEEP DIVE Liar, liar

Image: Gemini

I’ve been telling you for years that your browser’s private mode is about as private as getting naked in a room with glass walls. Now we finally have proof, straight from the source. Google settled a $5 billion lawsuit accusing them of tricking millions of people into believing Incognito mode made them invisible online.

Spoiler: It didn’t. Not even close.

🕵🏼‍♂️ The Sly Guy During the case, internal Google emails came out that were jaw-dropping. One engineer wrote that they should stop using the little “Spy Guy” icon with Chrome because it suggested a level of privacy that did not exist.

Another memo joked they should rename it “Guy Hiding in the Bushes Mode,” because even if you don’t see Google, it definitely sees you. Ouch.

🌳 What was really happening? When you opened an Incognito tab in Chrome, you thought you were slipping off the grid. In reality, Google’s ad trackers, Analytics and other built-in tools running across the web were still logging all your activities.

Your shopping habits. Your late-night questions. Your health searches. It was all collected, tied to you and sold off to advertisers, marketing companies and who knows who else.

As part of the massive settlement, Google has to delete billions of records of people who thought they were browsing privately. They also had to rewrite the Incognito disclaimer to admit that websites and Google itself can still track you.

Incognito mode does nothing to stop your ISP, Google, advertisers and the websites you visit from tracking your activity. You might feel hidden, but everyone sees everything.