Perplexity's 'Incognito Mode' Called a 'Sham' in Class Action Lawsuit Over Data Sharing with Google and Meta
Key Takeaways
- ▸Perplexity's conversations are allegedly shared with Google and Meta regardless of user privacy settings, with 'Incognito Mode' providing no actual protection
- ▸Sensitive personal information including financial data, health records, and personally identifiable information are allegedly shared without user knowledge or consent
- ▸The lawsuit claims Perplexity embeds ad trackers from Google and Meta that operate secretly to exploit user data for advertising and resale purposes
Summary
A proposed class action lawsuit filed against Perplexity AI, Google, and Meta alleges that the search engine's privacy protections are illusory, with user conversations—including sensitive financial, health, and legal information—being systematically shared with the tech giants' ad trackers without user knowledge or consent. The lawsuit claims that Perplexity's "Incognito Mode" provides no actual protection, as even paid users with this feature enabled had their entire chat sessions shared along with personally identifiable information. The complaint argues that the sharing occurs through embedded ad tracker technology that operates "surreptitiously," allowing Google and Meta to exploit sensitive user data for advertising targeting and resale.
Filed by an anonymous user identified as John Doe, the lawsuit details how users unwittingly share highly sensitive information with Perplexity—including financial data, medical records, and legal advice—with the expectation of privacy. The complaint highlights that Perplexity reportedly encourages users to upload sensitive documents and records during chats, knowing that this information will be shared with third parties. The lawsuit characterizes the ad trackers as "browser-based wiretap technology" and alleges violations of both state and federal privacy laws.
- Both free and paid Perplexity users are affected, with the complaint alleging the company designs prompts to encourage users to upload sensitive documents
