• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 29, 2020

Google is facing a new privacy lawsuit alleging that the company improperly collects a host of personal information from people using the Chrome browser -- including their IP addresses, identifiers stored on cookies, and data about web-browsing activity.

“Google intentionally and unlawfully causes Chrome to record and send users’ personal information to Google regardless of whether a user elects to sync or even has a Google account,” web users Thomas Calhoun, Elaine Crespo, Hadiyah Jackson and Claudia Kindler allege in a 93-page class-action complaint filed Monday in federal court in San Jose, California.

Calhoun and the others, who all say they didn't sync Chrome to their Google accounts, allege that Google uses that data for targeted advertising.

Among other claims, they accuse Google of violating Chrome's privacy policy, which says information stored by Chrome won't be sent to Google unless users affirmatively sync the browser with their Google accounts.

“Although Google promises that Chrome users can opt out of Google surveillance by not providing any personal information to use Chrome and not synching their data, those promises are not true,” the complaint alleges. “Unbeknownst to users, Google has programmed Chrome for surveillance no matter what the user does.”

Google hasn't yet responded to requests for comment.

This lawsuit marks at least the third privacy complaint brought against Google in the last two months.

In early June, California residents alleged in a class-action complaint that the company violates federal and California privacy laws by tracking Chrome users who browse the web in "incognito" mode.

And two weeks ago, Google was sued for allegedly tracking people's app activity, even when they attempted to opt out by configuring their privacy settings to stop storing "Web & App Activity."