DLNews Technology:

The fact that the incognito mode in the Chrome browser does not deliver what it promises should be known to many by now. An internal chat from Google employees shows how ineffective the function is.

Many people still use the incognito mode of Google Chrome in the hope of escaping surveillance on the Internet and report how little protection the mode actually offers. An ongoing class action lawsuit in the U.S. accuses parent company Alphabet Inc. of promising privacy while still spying on users. During the lawsuit, several pieces of evidence were released, including an internal chat from Google employees, which is available at "Bloomberg."

Incognito mode in Chrome compared to the "Simpsons" character.

The footage shows plenty of criticism even within Google for Chrome's misleading incognito mode. In an internal chat by Google engineers, one person wrote in 2018, "We need to stop calling it Incognito and use the Spy Guy icon [spy icon, editor's note]." The icon of the spy disguised with a hat and glasses and the message "You are now in incognito mode" or "You've gone Incognito" would suggest to users that they are anonymous on the Internet - which is not the case at all.

Another person responded in the chat with a link to a character from the well-known cartoon series "The Simpsons." The character in question is "Guy Incognito," a doppelganger of the main character Homer Simpson. The person wrote with a pinch of salt: "Regardless of the name, the Incognito symbol should have always been Guy Incognito. That also accurately describes the level of privacy it provides."

Another email that went directly to Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai also shows the frustration within the company. Head of marketing Lorraine Twohill wrote in a bullet point that Google needs to make Incognito mode truly private: "We are limited in how much we can market Incognito because it [the mode, ed.] is not truly private. Instead, it requires vague and evasive language that's almost more damaging."

Google faces billions in payments.

The honest way Google employees talk about the incognito mode in Chrome could negatively impact the company's chances of winning the lawsuit.

Billions in damages are at stake. Whether tens of thousands of Chrome users can collectively receive between $100 and $1,000 per data breach is now up to a U.S. court to decide. Google rejects the accusations. The company points out that Chrome explicitly warns in an incognito session that the activity is still visible to websites visited, employers, and Internet providers.