Editing Google (section)

=== Private browsing lawsuit ===
{{See also|Private browsing}}
In early June 2020, a $5 billion class-action lawsuit was filed against Google by a group of consumers, alleging that Chrome's Incognito browsing mode still collects their user history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/13/22329240/judge-rules-google-5-billion-lawsuit-tracking-chrome-incognito-privacy |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[The Verge]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-to-face-5b-lawsuit-over-tracking-users-in-incognito-mode/399113/#close |access-date=October 4, 2021 |website=SearchEngineJournal}}</ref> The lawsuit became known in March 2021 when a federal judge denied Google's request to dismiss the case, ruling that they must face the group's charges.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 13, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-13/google-must-face-suit-over-snooping-on-incognito-browsing |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2021 |title=Google gets sued |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/judge-rules-5-billion-google-chrome-incognito-mode-lawsuit-can-go-forward/ |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Ars Technica]]}}</ref> [[Reuters]] reported that the lawsuit alleged that Google's CEO [[Sundar Pichai]] sought to keep the users unaware of this issue.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 24, 2021 |title=$5 billion class-action lawsuit against Google |url=https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-ceo-sought-keep-incognito-mode-issues-out-spotlight-lawsuit-alleges-2021-09-24/ |access-date=October 4, 2021 |publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

In April 2024, it was announced that Google agreed to settle this lawsuit. Under the terms of the settlement Google agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of people who thought they were browsing privately.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liedtke |first=Michael |date=April 1, 2024 |title=Google to purge billions of files containing personal data in settlement of Chrome privacy case |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/google-to-purge-billions-of-files-containing-personal-data-in-settlement-of-chrome-privacy-case/ar-BB1kTLBe |access-date=April 3, 2024 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

==== Gender discrimination lawsuit ====
In 2017, three women sued Google, accusing the company of violating California's Equal Pay Act by underpaying its female employees. The lawsuit cited the wage gap was around $17,000 and that Google locked women into lower career tracks, leading to smaller salaries and bonuses. In June 2022, Google agreed to pay a $118 million settlement to 15,550 female employees working in California since 2013. As a part of the settlement, Google also agreed to hire a third party to analyze its hiring and compensation practices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=June 12, 2022 |title=Google to pay $118 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit |url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/12/23164678/google-pay-118-million-settle-gender-discrimination-lawsuit |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=[[The Verge]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Complex |first=Valerie |date=June 12, 2022 |title=Google Agrees to Pay Out $118 Million To Former Employees In Gender Discrimination And Pay Equity Suit |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/google-agrees-to-pay-out-118-million-to-former-1235043474/ |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Grant |first=Nico |date=June 13, 2022 |title=Google Agrees to Pay $118 Million to Settle Pay Discrimination Case |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/12/business/google-discrimination-settlement-women.html |access-date=June 14, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

====U.S. government contracts====

Following media reports about [[PRISM (surveillance program)|PRISM]], the [[National Security Agency|NSA]]'s massive electronic [[Mass surveillance|surveillance program]], in June 2013, several technology companies were identified as participants, including Google.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 17, 2014 |title=Edward Snowden: Leaks that exposed US spy programme |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320171345/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964 |archive-date=March 20, 2017 |access-date=March 25, 2017 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> According to unnamed sources, Google joined the PRISM program in 2009, as [[YouTube]] in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Greenwald |first1=Glenn |last2=MacAskill |first2=Ewen |date=June 7, 2013 |title=NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818114650/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data |archive-date=August 18, 2006 |access-date=April 17, 2021 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

Google has worked with the [[United States Department of Defense]] on drone software through the 2017 [[Project Maven]] that could be used to improve the accuracy of [[drone strike]]s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Amadeo |first=Ron |date=April 4, 2018 |title=Google employees revolt, say company should shut down military drone project |work=Ars Technica |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/google-should-not-be-in-the-business-of-war-googlers-decry-pentagon-project/ |url-status=live |access-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202043739/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/google-should-not-be-in-the-business-of-war-googlers-decry-pentagon-project/ |archive-date=February 2, 2021}}</ref> In April 2018, thousands of Google employees, including senior engineers, signed a letter urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to end this controversial contract with the Pentagon.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chapman |first=Ben |date=April 3, 2018 |title=Google staff protest company's involvement with Pentagon drones programme |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/google-protest-pentagon-drones-programme-company-sundar-pichai-department-defense-a8290111.html |url-status=live |access-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214235047/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/google-protest-pentagon-drones-programme-company-sundar-pichai-department-defense-a8290111.html |archive-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> Google ultimately decided not to renew this [[United States Department of Defense|DoD]] contract, which was set to expire in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Wakabayashi |first1=Daisuke |last2=Shane |first2=Scott |date=June 1, 2018 |title=Google Will Not Renew Pentagon Contract That Upset Employees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/technology/google-pentagon-project-maven.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016004020/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/technology/google-pentagon-project-maven.html |archive-date=October 16, 2018 |access-date=October 16, 2018 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

In 2022 Google shared a $9 billion contract from the Pentagon for cloud computing with Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farrell |first1=Maureen |title=Pentagon Divides Big Cloud-Computing Deal Among 4 Firms |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/business/pentagon-cloud-contracts-jwcc.html |work=The New York Times |date=December 7, 2022}}</ref>