Google to purge billions of files containing personal data in settlement of Chrome privacy case

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has agreed to purge billions of records containing personal information collected from more than 136 million people in the U.S. surfing the internet through its Chrome web browser. The move comes as part of a settlement in a lawsuit accusing the search giant of illegal surveillance. Although Google isn’t paying consumers any money in the case, estimates made in court records pegged the value of the privacy controls at $4.75 billion to $7.8 billion. The details of the settlement emerged in a court filing Monday, more than three months after Google and the attorneys handling the class-action case disclosed they had resolved June 2020 lawsuit targeting Chrome’s privacy controls.