Like complaining about the weather, many people complain about how Google affects their privacy, but unlike the weather, there are things you can do about it.
I’m not suggesting that Google doesn’t collect a lot of information from people, nor am I discouraging policy makers from paying attention to the company’s need to better protect users. But, as a baseline, everyone should know what information Google is collecting about them and what you can do to limit or remove that information. Also, the information I’m writing about is probably not all that Google collects, such as the data it collects to display ads.
search history
By default, Google keeps track of your search history when you’re logged in. But they also have a page (myactivity.google.com/myactivity) that will report and let you delete your Google activity. When you land on that page, you can view your search history, including Google Web Search and Google News. You can also see other activity in Google products, including using Google Calendar, Gmail, and any Android devices and apps you have running on your Android device. If you click on “Other Activity,” you’re taken to a menu where you can see YouTube activity and settings, location history, Google Ads settings, and more, depending on whether Which Google services do you use?
For each activity, there is the ability to delete it from Google’s history. You can delete only the last hour of activity, last day, all times, or set a custom category. When you delete an activity, according to Google, “First of all, we aim to remove it from view immediately and the data can no longer be used to personalize your Google experience. We then remove the data from our storage system.” Begin a process designed to remove it safely and completely.” Since the process may not be instantaneous, there is a possibility that someone could find that data with a legal process like a warrant, until it completely disappears from Google and its backup systems.
You can also turn off Google’s ability to save your searches and other future activity. If you want even more privacy when using Google, you can use your browser’s private or incognito mode and make sure you’re not logged into your Google Account. This will prevent both your browser and Google from keeping records of what you’re doing, but it won’t prevent the websites you visit from tracking you (especially if you’re logged in) or collected by hackers or your Internet. Cannot protect you from the information provided. service provider or your employer if you are using an employer-owned device or are logged into your employer’s virtual private network.
Location History Can Reveal
Even if you’re not concerned about security or privacy, Location History can be pretty interesting because it lets you see a timeline of every place you have Google Maps on your phone. It’s years old and shows you the places you’ve visited on a map, even if you didn’t use Google Maps to get there. In April 2017, my wife and I took a driving tour around Ireland, and I shared a daily breakdown of where we went, a map of our entire drive, and even what we did on each day of the trip with our phones. See also the pictures taken together. I forgot to eat at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub in Dingle on April 19, but it was just one of many details of that trip that appeared on the timeline. You can delete this information or prevent it from being collected in the first place, but personally, I’m glad it’s there because it’s not only fun to review my past visits, it can be useful. If I am attempting to recall the details of a business trip for income tax or reimbursement purposes. Recently, my wife asked me if I could remember a hotel we stayed in years ago, and I was able to find it by looking at its activity for that day and locating the city on a map.
browser history
Like most browsers, Google Chrome keeps a history of the sites you have visited. You can view that activity by clicking History from the three-dot menu in the top right and clicking on specific sites to delete that record or Clear browsing data from the left menu. You may also want to uncheck Cookies and other site data, as this will log you out of most sites. If you decide to delete those cookies (which may be a good idea for privacy reasons), make sure you know your username and password as you will need to enter them again.
android phone data
If you have an Android phone, Google has even more information about you, including what apps you’re using and even more location data. Android also has a record of your incoming, outgoing and missed calls – although contrary to some internet rumours – it does not record your actual phone calls, although Google Voice users have the option of pressing 4 to record incoming calls. who will announce it. The other caller to whom the call is being recorded.
You can delete your call history or record of an individual call. To delete your entire history, go to the dialer, select Recent, click the three-dot menu on the right, choose Call History, click the three-dot menu again, and click Clear Call History. To delete the history of all calls to or from a specific number, go to Recent, click Calls from that number, and select History.
iPhone users can learn to delete calls from their device by Googling “delete iPhone call history”.
Remove information about you from Google Search
If you do a Google search on your name, your home address, or your phone number, chances are you’ll find pages that reveal personal information that you don’t want to be made public. It can be removed from Google search in some cases, but not in all cases. Data that can be removed from Search may include personal information, such as ID numbers and personal documents, nude or explicit sexual items, content about you on sites with exploitative removal practices, content removed for legal reasons, and current Imagery of a person in the age of 18. It won’t remove all information about you — just some categories — and it won’t remove it from the web — just from Google search results. In addition, it is not automatic. You request removal and Google decides whether it will be removed based on their criteria.
Google isn’t the only company tracking you
These instructions are only about the information that Google collects from you, but there is a lot of other information about you that you need to consider. Any of your apps, browsers or websites you visit may collect information, especially if you are logged in. Some cars (including Teslas) can track where you’ve driven and, of course, your phone carrier has a log of your calls. Warrant can be ascertained.
Disclosure: Larry Magid is the CEO of ConnectSafely.org, a non-profit Internet security organization that receives financial support from Google and other technology companies.
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