Want Google to stop tracking you and your online activities? Read this
By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 14, 2021, 9:14 AM ISTHere's how to turn off Google tracking and what are the consequences of doing so.
A new report has claimed that even if you turn off the location history in your Google Account, some Google apps still store your location data. This can happen even if you open the Google Maps app or use Google search on any platform. It keeps a log of your precise location along with a time stamp.
However, following an investigation by the Associated Press in 2018, any location is protected by data features such as maps and search that gives you quick access to your location controls. Therefore, Google should be knowing what is being deleted and what is being controlled.
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Turn off location history and only remove data about where you were from the Maps timeline feature. Even when turned off, like your web and app activity, 'some location data may continue to be saved in other settings'. Google said it was using the data to make the features more personal and helpful and would never share this information with third parties or advertisers. But with a few simple steps, you can prevent Google from finding out where you are 24/7.
Note that there are some drawbacks to turning this setting off. Even though Google's settings may seem intrusive to some users, they do help in creating a personalised online experience like helping people find amenities nearby or viewing personalized ads. Google says that its services provide users with relevant rather than random information.
How to turn off Google tracking and what are the consequences of doing so.
To turn off Google's location tracking, you must be logged in to completely shut down.
1. Open Google on your desktop or mobile web browser. Log in to your Google account.
2. Click on your user icon in the top right corner and select Manage your Google Account.
3. Click Privacy and Personalization.
4. Click on what you did and where you went.
5. Inside the history settings, click on location history. This opens operational controls.
6. Below the location history, click on the button to the right that reads off. This opens a pop-up window.
7. Scroll to the bottom of this window and click on the Pause option.
How to prevent Google from storing your locations on Maps:
Tinkering with this setting bars Google from storing location markers linked to specific activities and stops storing the information it gathered from search or other activities. Turning it off keeps your approximate location and other places you visit private. Google still needs to access your location for effective use of features like Maps. However, completing the above steps will prevent you from storing any of your future activities.
Turning off tracking means you will see less relevant ads and less-helpful search recommendations. It may also impact the overall personal experience with the search engine and Google apps and services. For those who enjoy personalized ads, turning off tracking will prevent Google from predicting what you should pay attention to.
Disabling tracking will prevent Google from storing new location information, but it will not delete any previously collected data. Here's how to delete that information:
1. Open Google on your desktop or mobile web browser. Log in to your Google account.
2. Go to the user icon in the top right corner. Select the manage your Google account option.
3. Click privacy and personalization.
4. Click on what you did and where you went.
5. Click a location
6. Click manage history at the bottom of the page. A map with a timeline opens in the top left corner. The map shows where you were, and the timeline shows where you were at the time.
7. To delete your location for a specific date, click the date on the timeline. Click on the trash icon next to the date. In the pop-up window, click delete day.
8. To delete your entire location history in one go, click the trash icon in the lower right corner of the map. In the pop-up window, click the check box to delete the location history. Click delete location history.
Google reduces the volume of data it stores when creating a new account. Data on 18 months of web and app activity is stored by default. Here is how to prevent Google from collecting future web and app activities:
1. Open Google on your desktop or mobile web browser. Log in to your Google account.
2. Click on the user icon in the top right corner. Select the Manage your Google account option.
3. Click privacy and personalization.
4. Click on what you did and where you went.
5. Click the web and app function inside the history settings box. This opens operational controls.
6. Click off under web and app activity.
7. In the pop-up window, click pause.
Delete all your Google Web and App activities
If you have stopped Google from collecting your web and app activities, Google still has pre-existing data. Take a look at the steps to delete previous web and app activity.
1. Open Google on your desktop or mobile browser. Log into your Google account.
2. Once you are logged in, go to the user icon in the top right corner. Select the manage your Google account option.
3. Click privacy and personalization.
4. Click on what you did and where you went.
5. Click the web and app function inside the history settings box. This opens operational controls.
6. At the bottom of the screen, click manage all web and app activities.
7. Under search your activity, right-click on delete.
8. A new window will display options to delete your web and app activity for the last hour, last day, all the time or from a custom range. Select all the time.
9. A new window will open asking you to select which services you want to deactivate from. Select all is auto-selected, but you can go through it and choose which apps or services you want to delete information from.
10. A pop-up window will open, confirming that you want to delete the following function at the top. Click.
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