Perplexity is accused of "fraud" with the complicity of Google and Meta

A new lawsuit has been filed against Perplexity. The class action, filed in a San Francisco court, points to the Incognito mode of the AI. As its name suggests, this mode should allow performing searches with AI without the conversation history being retrieved by Perplexity.

According to the complaint, Incognito mode is a « deception », because users' conversations and searches are not truly confidential.« deception » The lawsuit claims that « huge volumes of sensitive information from users » are shared with third parties, particularly Google and Meta. This sharing would affect both users who have a Perplexity account and those who don't, who use the tool without having opened an account or subscribed to a subscription.not truly confidential

Also read: Goodbye Safari on iPhone – it's been replaced by Comet, the AI browser of Perplexity

Invisible ad trackers on the Perplexity website?

The complaint states that the user's first message is always sent to third parties, just as the follow-up questions they click on, even if Incognito mode is properly activated. In the case of users without an account, the conversations would be shared via a URL, offering full access to the exchange. The conversations might sometimes include personal information that could identify the user.shared via a URL

Even paid users who had activated private browsing mode saw their shared conversations with Meta and Google, as well as their email addresses and other identifiers allowing Meta and Google to personally identify them, the complaint text alleges.

One of the plaintiffs explains having discussed family finances, taxes, and investments with the AI chatbot, while using the "Incognito" mode, but that invisible trackers had captured his exchanges. These trackers would have communicated the information to Google and Meta in order to help them refine their advertising targeting. These tools, allegedly hidden in the code of Perplexity's website, would capture every word exchanged from the homepage. Among the identified tracking technologies, there is the Facebook Meta pixel, Google Ads, Google DoubleClick, and a Meta technology called "Conversion API." Note that Google and Meta are also targeted by the class-action lawsuit, which seeks damages from the AI and technology giants.

“Nothing on Perplexity's website warns users that their conversations with its AI system will be shared with Meta and Google”, reads the complaint, which demands severe fines against Perplexity and its partners.

The class-action lawsuit involves Perplexity users in the United States, whose conversations may have been shared with Google and Meta between December 7, 2022, and February 4, 2026. When questioned by Ars Technica, Perplexity explained that it was not aware of a complaint filing. At this stage, the startup, which is trying to establish itself in the AI world, specifies that it is not able to “comment” the allegations against its products. On the other hand, Google recalls that “companies are responsible for the data they collect and must clearly inform their users”, and that “the information sent to Google Analytics for audience measurement does not allow identifying an individual”. This is not the first time Perplexity has found itself in the crosshairs of a lawsuit. The American startup has been accused multiple times of data theft to train its language models.

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Source: Ars Technica