Perplexity Shares Your Chats With Google and Meta. Even in Incognito Mode.

You use Perplexity to research a medical treatment, manage your taxes, or ask a legal question you wouldn't ask a human. You assume it's private. Maybe you even turn on Incognito mode to be safe.

Your conversations go to Google and Meta anyway. In full.

That's what a class action lawsuit filed April 1st in the United States against Perplexity AI, Google, and Meta alleges. And the details are worse than the headline.

Ad trackers inside an AI search engine

The complaint, filed by an anonymous user and backed by technical analysis, identifies several advertising trackers embedded directly in the Perplexity search engine: Facebook's Meta Pixel, Google Ads, Google DoubleClick, and potentially Meta's "Conversions API," a tool designed to bypass tracker blockers.

These trackers don't just collect metadata. According to the complaint, they transmit full conversation transcripts to Google and Meta.

Opening prompts are systematically shared. Follow-up questions too. For non-subscribers, it's even worse: a URL granting access to the entire conversation is transmitted to both platforms. Anyone with that URL can read the exchange.

"This was true for every user, whether or not they created a Perplexity account," the complaint states.

Incognito mode doesn't protect you

This is the most damning part. Perplexity offers an "Incognito" mode that suggests to users their searches are private.

The complaint calls this mode a "sham." Conversations are transmitted the same way, accompanied by email addresses and other personal identifiers. Google and Meta can personally identify the user, even when they think they're browsing anonymously.

"Incognito mode does nothing to prevent the sharing of conversations with Meta and Google," the complaint summarizes.

Perplexity encourages you to share more

What makes this particularly cynical is that Perplexity is designed to prompt users to share sensitive information.

The example cited in the complaint: when asked "What is the best treatment for liver cancer?", Perplexity responds "I can help you interpret a scan result, biopsy, or treatment plan if you share more details."

The user, trusting the system, uploads their medical results. That data is then shared with advertising networks. The complaint notes this can lead to ad targeting that users would find "overwhelming, disturbing, or in many cases, physically deleterious."

And Perplexity's privacy policy? It's not even accessible from the search engine homepage. Unlike Google or Bing, which put it in the footer, Perplexity doesn't link to it anywhere. You literally have to use a search engine to find a search engine's privacy policy.

Perplexity isn't an isolated case

The problem goes beyond Perplexity. In 2025, ChatGPT conversations were found in Google search results and analytics tools. In 2026, conversation logs were shared with news organizations in copyright litigation.

The pattern is the same each time: users treat AI engines as confidants, but the companies building them treat those conversations as monetizable assets.

The difference with Perplexity is the scale and cynicism. An "Incognito" mode that does nothing. Trackers designed to bypass protections. And a design that actively pushes users to share medical, financial, and legal data.

What you can do

The class action covers 3 years of conversations (December 2022 to February 2026) and could affect millions of users. Potential damages exceed $5,000 per violation.

But beyond the lawsuit, the reflex is simple: never treat an AI engine as a private space. Not Perplexity, not ChatGPT, not Claude, not Gemini.

If you wouldn't pay for Google Ads to read this information, don't type it into a prompt.

Incognito mode in an AI engine protects you no more than Chrome's Incognito mode makes you invisible. The difference is Chrome never asked you to upload your medical records.

Sources:

• Ars Technica, Perplexity's "Incognito Mode" is a "sham," lawsuit says (April 2, 2026): https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/perplexitys-incognito-mode-is-a-sham-lawsuit-says/
• Complaint Doe v. Perplexity AI Inc. (March 31, 2026): https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Doe-v-Perplexity-Complaint-3-31-26.pdf
• Insurance Journal, Perplexity AI Machine Accused of Sharing Data With Meta, Google (April 2, 2026): https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/04/02/864332.htm