Google's own employees know that Chrome's Incognito mode does not do what the name implies-and have actually tried to change it, to no avail.
Google's own workforce have reportedly criticized the deceptively-named "Incognito" mode for years, and at least one officer directly asked CEO Sundar Pichai himself to do something so that the feature could actually live up to its name.
Bloomberg recently viewed some court documents and found internal exchanges showing Google's own staff either joking about or criticizing Chrome's Incognito mode.
One particular email found in those documents comes from Google marketing chief Lorraine Twohill, who reportedly sent an email to Pichai warning him about the potential drop in consumer trust that could result from using misleading terminologies.
"Make Incognito Mode truly private," Twohill wrote in the email.
Gizmodo noted that Twohill sent Pichai that email after some users filed a multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuit accusing Google of illegally tracking users who are using the said Incognito mode. These plaintiffs say that by tracking users without their knowledge, Google is violating user privacy.
Common Sentiment
Other court filings that Bloomberg reviewed revealed that Twohill is not the only Google employee who expressed that concern.
A Google engineer in 2018, for example, said "we need to stop calling it Incognito and stop using a Spy Guy icon" during a chat. This engineer reportedly pointed to research showing people didn't really understand how Incognito mode works.
A Google Chrome product lead, on the other hand, even suggested something more direct such as changing the message on the Incognito launch page from the potentially misleading "You are protected from other people who use this device" to the more accurate "You are NOT protected from Google."
As expected, Google dumped the idea and instead provided some notes providing important information right there on the Incognito launch page. The said information, however, needs to be accessed by clicking on the "learn more" tab. Research shows Google's effort to educate people about Incognito's limitations isn't working.
A 2018 study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago and the Leibniz University of Hanover, for example, found that 56.3% of participants believe Incognito hides their search history from Google, and another 37% of participants thought their employers won't see their search and browsing activities as well.
Not Just Incognito
By now, it's common knowledge that Google tracks people's movements in the internet, regardless whether they are using laptops or mobile devices.
Previous reports indicate that Google continues to keep track of Android device users' locations even if the feature is turned off. And no matter how much Google tries to vehemently tries to deny this, it's true-the tech giant has actually decided to just pay millions to settle a lawsuit from Arizona to settle the matter.
