Google Chrome is a free, closed-source-core web browser developed by Google LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., that integrates deeply with Google's account, sync, advertising, and Safe Browsing infrastructure. Chrome's own privacy documentation discloses extensive optional data flows to Google (sync, autofill, suggestions, usage statistics), and the browser has been the direct subject of a multi-billion-dollar U.S. class-action settlement over Incognito-mode data practices as well as multiple French CNIL fines and a four-year UK competition investigation concerning its cookie and ad-technology plans. Google discloses a Google Privacy Policy governing Chrome-collected personal information and a corporate structure in which Google LLC and Google Ireland Limited operate as identifiable legal entities under Alphabet Inc., though the practical boundary between "Chrome" data and broader "Google account" data is complex and has drawn regulatory and judicial scrutiny.
TRACK RECORD
2 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
[2025-10-23]
The UK CMA's four-year competition investigation into Chrome's Privacy Sandbox concluded in 2025 when the CMA released Google from its commitments and closed the investigation, as a result of Google abandoning its plans to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.
CNIL explicitly considered Google's prior fines in 2020 (€100 million) and 2021 (€150 million) for cookie-related violations as aggravating circumstances in its 2025 decision, noting that despite earlier sanctions, Google failed to adequately remedy its practices.
By default, Chrome synchronizes installed apps, extensions, themes, browser settings, autofill entries, browsing history, bookmarks, saved passwords, open tabs, and saved credit cards when a user signs in.
When a user signs in to the Chrome browser or a Chromebook and enables sync with their Google Account, personal information is saved in the Google Account on Google's servers so it can be accessed when signing in and syncing to Chrome on other devices.
Regulatory filings identify distinct Chrome/Google corporate entities: CNIL's 2025 decision imposed two fines totalling 325 million euros against Google — 200 million euros against Google LLC and 125 million euros against Google Ireland Limited.
Google's Privacy Policy states that although Incognito mode in Chrome can help keep browsing private from other people who use the same device, third-party sites and apps that integrate Google's services still share information with Google when visited.
In a separate 2021 decision, CNIL found that Google made it difficult for internet users to refuse online tracking cookies, and that its google.fr and YouTube platforms did not allow users to refuse cookies as easily as they could accept them.
France's CNIL found that when creating a Google account, users were encouraged to choose cookies linked to personalised advertising over generic advertising, were not clearly informed that cookie deposit for advertising purposes was a condition of accessing Google's services, and that consent obtained in this context was not valid.
In April 2024, Google agreed to destroy billions of private browsing records of millions of users to settle a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit alleging it covertly tracked users' actions while they browsed in Chrome's "Incognito" mode. The lawsuit had extracted admissions from Google employees characterizing Incognito mode as a "confusing mess" and "effectively a lie."
CNIL explicitly considered Google's prior fines in 2020 (€100 million) and 2021 (€150 million) for cookie-related violations as aggravating circumstances in its 2025 decision, noting that despite earlier sanctions, Google failed to adequately remedy its practices.
The UK CMA's four-year competition investigation into Chrome's Privacy Sandbox concluded in 2025 when the CMA released Google from its commitments and closed the investigation, as a result of Google abandoning its plans to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.
Under a 2024 U.S. class-action settlement, Google is required to block third-party cookies within Chrome's Incognito Mode for five years, a setting the company had already implemented for all users.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority's investigation into Chrome's "Privacy Sandbox" found that if Google's proposals were implemented without sufficient regulatory scrutiny, the changes could allow Google to restrict user-tracking functionalities for third parties while retaining this functionality for itself, and could deny Chrome users an effective choice over whether and how their personal data is used for ad targeting.