Google has finally admitted that it tracks your search history, activities, the websites you visit and the services they use even in Incognito mode. Following the search engine's agreement to settle a $5 billion USD privacy lawsuit that accused it of tracking users illegally in incognito mode, it has now updated the disclaimer to reflect the transparency. In its Canary version (Early-access version which allows users and developers to test new features and updates before they are rolled out for everyone), Google now states that data will still be collected even in Incognito mode.
The normal disclaimer which you can see in Incognito mode at the moment is- "Now you can browse privately, and other people who use this device won’t see your activity. However, downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved." However, in the Canary version, the disclaimer reads, "Others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately. This won’t change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google. Downloads, bookmarks and reading list items will be saved."
Why Does It Make A Difference?
Speculations of the search engine tracking users in the incognito mode were always there but Google never confirmed that it continues to track users despite them being in incognito mode. However, now, after putting up this disclaimer, it has clarified that indeed does track your activities. Notably, this does not mean that Google is now starting to track your activities and was not doing so before. It means that they were doing that earlier as well but now they have admitted to it finally.
Users must be cautious about using Google even in incognito mode as it is not just the search engine that tracks you but the websites also do. Are you one of the people who used to open the incognito mode to book flight tickets so that you could avoid surge prices? You might encounter that surge now as both Google as well as the ticket-selling website will be tracking your activity.