of consumers, alleging that Chrome's Incognito browsing mode still collects their user history. The lawsuit became known in March 2021 when a federal judge denied Google's request to dismiss the case, ruling that they must face the group's charges. Reuters reported that the lawsuit alleged that Google's CEO Sundar Pichai sought to keep the users unaware of this issue. Gender discrimination lawsuit In 2017, three women sued Google, accusing the company of violating California's Equal Pay Act by underpaying its female employees. The lawsuit cited the wage gap was around $17,000 and that Google locked women into lower career tracks, leading to smaller salaries and bonuses. In June 2022, Google agreed to pay a $118 million settlement to 15,550 female employees working in California since 2013. As a part of the settlement, Google also agreed to hire a third party to analyze its hiring and compensation practices. U.S. government contracts Following media reports about PRISM, the NSA's massive electronic surveillance program, in June 2013, several technology companies were identified as participants, including Google. According to unnamed sources, Google joined the PRISM program in 2009, as YouTube in 2010. Google has worked with the United States Department of Defense on drone software through the 2017 Project Maven that could be used to improve the accuracy of drone strikes. In April 2018, thousands of Google employees, including senior engineers, signed a letter urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to end this controversial contract with the Pentagon. Google ultimately decided not to renew this DoD contract, which was set to expire in 2019. See also Outline of Google History of Google List of Google products Google China Google logo Googlization Google.org Google ATAP List of mergers and acquisitions by Alphabet Notes References Further reading Vaidhyanathan, Siya. 2011. The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry). University of California Press. External links Official Blog 1998 establishments in California 2004 initial public offerings Alphabet Inc. AI companies Cloud computing providers Companies based in Mountain View, California Companies in the PRISM network Computer companies established in 1998 Computer-related introductions in 1998 Internet properties established in 1998 Mobile phone manufacturers Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Technology companies established in 1998 University spin-offs Virtual reality companies Web portals Web service providers Webby Award winners American corporate subsidiaries