Highlights

New requests, according to a Google official, are 'unwarranted and overreaching.'

Pichai was told not to use the term 'private' while discussing Incognito browsing mode.

The privacy disclosures made by Google have drawn regulatory and legal attention.

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In recent years, as public concern about online surveillance has grown, Google's privacy disclosures have drawn regulatory and legal scrutiny. According to a new court filing, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was warned in 2019 that referring to the company's Incognito browsing mode as 'private' was problematic, but he stuck to his guns because he didn't want the feature 'under the spotlight.' The petition, according to Google spokesperson José Castaeda, 'mischaracterizes emails referring unconnected second and third-hand reports.'

In recent years, amid increased public worries about internet spying, the Alphabet unit's privacy revelations have drawn regulatory and judicial scrutiny. Users claimed in a complaint filed in June that Google illegally recorded their Internet activity when using its Chrome browser in Incognito mode. Incognito simply prevents data from being stored on a user's device, according to Google, which is opposing the lawsuit.

Attorneys for the users said they 'expect attempting to depose' Pichai and Google Chief Marketing Officer Lorraine Twohill in a written update on trial preparations submitted Thursday in US federal court. According to the attorneys, Pichai 'was warned in 2019 as part of a project led by Twohill that Incognito should not be referred to as 'private' because doing so would 'risk compounding known misunderstandings about the safeguards Incognito mode provides.''

'We constantly debate how to strengthen the privacy protections incorporated into our services,' Castaeda added. Google's lawyers have stated that they will fight any attempts to depose Pichai and Twohill.

Plaintiffs deposed Google vice president Brian Rakowski, dubbed 'the 'founder' of Incognito mode' in the brief, last month. According to the plaintiffs' write-up, even though Google claims Incognito allows users to browse 'privately,' what people assume 'may not match' reality. The summary was rejected by Google's lawyers, who wrote that terms like 'private,' 'anonymous,' and 'invisible' in the right context 'can be super helpful' in explaining Incognito.

'As part of those talks, Pichai concluded that he 'didn't want to put incognito under the limelight,' and Google persisted without fixing those known vulnerabilities,' according to the lawsuit.

A California federal judge has ruled that plaintiffs who accuse Alphabet's Google of illegally tracking their internet use while using the 'Incognito' browsing mode can question Chief Executive Sundar Pichai for up to two hours. Users accused Google of illegally breaching their privacy by tracking internet activity when Google Chrome browsers were switched to 'private' mode in a complaint filed in June 2020. According to a Monday court filing, the plaintiffs claim that Pichai has 'unique, personal knowledge' of issues relating to the Chrome browser and privacy concerns.

The additional requirements, according to Google spokesman José Castaeda, are 'unwarranted and overreaching.' 'While we strongly disagree with the plaintiffs' assertions in this lawsuit, we have complied with their numerous demands... We will continue to fight back vehemently 'Castaeda said. According to a court filing in September, Pichai was advised in 2019 that referring to the company's Incognito browsing mode as 'private' was inappropriate, but he persisted because he did not want the function 'under the limelight.'