US Judge Rules Sundar Pichai Can Be Witness In Illegal Internet Monitoring Case In US

JAKARTA - Plaintiffs who accuse Alphabet Inc's Google of illegally tracking their internet usage while in "Incognito" (Incognito) browsing mode can question its Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai, for up to two hours as a witness. The investment decision was made by a California federal judge this week.

Reported by Reuters, in a lawsuit filed in June 2020, users have accused Google of illegally invading their privacy by tracking internet usage temporarily via the Google Chrome browser set in "private" mode.

The plaintiffs argued that Pichai had "unique personal knowledge" of matters relating to the Chrome browser and other privacy concerns, according to a court hearing Monday, December 27.

A Google spokesman, José Castaneda, told Reuters the new request was "unreasonable and overreaching".

"While we strongly dispute the claims in this case, we have cooperated with countless plaintiffs' requests... We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously," Castaneda said, as quoted by Reuters.

Pichai was warned in 2019 that describing the company's Incognito browsing mode as "private" was problematic. But he did it anyway because he didn't want the feature "under the spotlight," according to a court filing last September.

In her order last Monday, US Court Judge Susan van Keulen, in San Jose, California, said "several documents establish that relevant specific information was communicated to, and possibly from, Pichai," and therefore supports a request from plaintiffs' attorneys to asked him.

Google previously said that it had made it clear that the “Incognito” mode only stops data from being saved to users' devices and is fighting lawsuits over these allegations.

Alphabet's unit privacy disclosures have resulted in regulatory and legal scrutiny in recent years amid growing public concern about online surveillance by internet applications.