Google has agreed to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked people's internet use who believed they were browsing privately.

The settlement terms were submitted on Monday to the federal court in Oakland, California, and require the approval of U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.

Plaintiffs' lawyers estimated the agreement to be more than $5 billion and up to $7.8 billion. Google does not pay any compensation, but users can sue the company individually for damages.

The class action lawsuit began in 2020, including millions of Google users who used private browsing since June 1, 2016.

Users alleged that Google's analytics, cookies, and applications allowed Alphabet to track people who incorrectly set Google Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "private" browsing mode.

They said this turned Google into an "unaccountable treasure trove" by allowing it to identify their friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and "the most intimate and possibly embarrassing things" they searched for online.

Under the settlement, Google will update disclosures about what it collects in "private" browsing, a process it has already started. It will also allow incognito mode users to block third-party cookies for five years.

Plaintiffs' lawyers wrote: "The result is that Google will collect less data from users' private browsing sessions, and Google will make less money from the data."

José Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, said the company is happy to settle the lawsuit, which it always considered meritless.

Castaneda explained: "We never link data to users when they use incognito mode." "We are pleased to delete old technical data that was never linked to an individual and never used for any form of personalization."

David Boies, plaintiffs' lawyer, described the settlement in a statement as "a historic step in demanding honesty and accountability from dominant tech companies."

An initial settlement was reached in December, announcing a trial scheduled for February 5, 2024. The terms were not disclosed at that time. Plaintiffs' lawyers later plan to seek unspecified attorney fees paid by Google.