How To Delete Personal Data From Google

Google may be collecting a lot more personal data about its users than you can even imagine. The company records every search you run and every YouTube video you watch. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android, Google Maps records everywhere you go, the route you use to get there and how long you stay, even if you never open the app. When you take a closer look at everything Google knows about you, the results can be staggering and maybe even a little disturbing. Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it.

Starting in June, new Google accounts will remove private data for you. But only after 18 months by default. And only if you’re a new Google user. That’s great if you’re deciding to set up a Gmail address or just got your first Android phone, but if you’re among the 1.5 billion people on Gmail or the 2.5 billion people already using Android, your account is set to hold on to your private data forever unless you tell Google otherwise.

We’ll delete the private data Google has on you. So we’ll help you find the right balance between your privacy and the Google services you rely on by choosing settings that limit Google’s access to your information without compromising your experience.

Private information that Google considers “public”

Google is likely to know your name, face, birthday, gender, other email addresses you use, your password, and your phone number. We’ll explain how to delete personal information from Google. Some of this is listed as public information (not your password, of course). Here’s how to see what Google shares with you around the world:

• 1. Open a browser window and go to your Google account page.
• 2. Type in your Google username (with or without “@ gmail.com”).
• 3. From the menu bar, select My Info and review your information. You can edit or delete your photo, name, birth date, gender, password, other email, and phone number.
• 4. If you want to see what information is publicly available, scroll down and select Go to Personal Information.
• 5. On this page, each row is labeled with a people icon (visible to anyone), office building icon (visible only to your organization), or block icon (visible only to you). Select an item to choose whether to make it public, semi-public, or private. It’s currently not possible to make your account totally private.

Understanding the personal data Google has on you and how to delete it

If you want to see the data Google has on you, follow these steps to find it, review it, delete the personal data from Google, or set it up for automatic deletion after a period of time.

If your goal is to exert more control over your data but you still want Google services like search and maps to personalize your results, we recommend setting your data for automatic deletion after three months. Otherwise, feel free to delete all of your data and set Google to stop monitoring. For most of the day-to-day things you do with Google, you won’t even notice the difference.

• 1. Log into your Google account and select Data and Personalization from the navigation bar.
• 2. To see a list of all activities logged by Google, scroll down to Activity Controls and select Web and App Activities. All Google searches, YouTube viewing history, Google Assistant commands, and other interactions with Google apps and services are recorded here.
• 3. To turn it off completely, move the switch to the off position. But beware: changing this setting will most likely render all Google Assistant devices you use, including Google Home and Google Nest speakers and smart displays, unusable.
• 4. If you want Google to stop tracking Chrome browser history and activity from sites you access with your Google account, uncheck the first box. If you don’t want Google to keep audio recordings of your interactions with the Google Assistant, uncheck the second box. Otherwise, go to step 5.
• 5. To set Google to automatically delete this type of data, either never or every three or 18 months, check Delete automatically and choose the time interval you prefer. Google will immediately delete all current data prior to the specified period. For example, if you choose three months, all information older than three months will be deleted immediately.
• 6. After you choose an Auto-Delete setting, a popup will appear asking you to confirm. Select Delete or Confirm.
• 7. Then, click Manage Activity. This page shows all the information Google has collected about you from the activities mentioned in the previous steps, organized by date, up to the day you created your account or the last time you deleted this list.
• 8. To delete specific days, select the trash can icon to the right of the day, then select Received. To get more specific details or to delete individual items, select the icon with three dots overlapping next to the item, then choose Delete or Details.
• 9. If you prefer to delete some or all of your history manually, select the three-dot overlapping icon to the right of the search bar at the top of the page and choose Delete Activity then choose Last Hour, Last Day, All Time, or Custom Interval.
• 10. To make sure the new settings are in place, go back to Manage Tasks (step 4) and make sure whatever is there is only three or 18 months old.

How to delete personal data from Google maps

Perhaps even more daunting than Google knowing what recipes you’ve cooked, what vacation destination you’re interested in, or how often you check in. We’ll tell you how to delete personal data from Google Maps.

If you’re logged into Google Maps on a mobile device, Google’s eyes are watching your every move. That’s enough to make you want to leave your phone at home. Luckily, you don’t have to. Here’s how to access, manage, and delete your personal Google Maps data:

• 1. Sign in to your Google account and select Data and Personalization from the navigation bar.
• 2. To see a list of all location data recorded by Google, scroll down to Activity Controls and select Location History.
• 3. If you want Google to stop tracking your location, turn off the switch on this page.
• 4. To set Google to automatically delete this type of data, either never or every three or 18 months, select Automatically delete, then select the time interval you prefer. Google will delete all current data prior to the specified period. For example, if you choose three months, all information older than three months will be deleted immediately.
• 5. After you choose an Auto-Delete setting, a popup will appear asking you to confirm. Select Delete or Confirm.
• 6. Next, click Manage Activities. This page shows all the location information Google has collected about you as a timeline and map, including the places you visited, the route you took and back, and the frequency and dates of visits.
• 7. To permanently delete all of your location history, click the trash can icon in the lower right corner and, when prompted, choose Delete Location History. To delete individual trips, select a point on the map or a bar on the timeline, and then, on the next page, click the trash can icon next to the date of the trip you want to delete.
• 8. To make sure your location data is really gone, start over with Check Activities in Step 2, then after Manage Activities in Step 4, make sure the timeline in the upper left corner is empty and that there are no points on the map indicating your previous locations.

Manage your YouTube search and viewing history

Of all the personal data Google tracks, your YouTube search and view history are probably the most innocuous. Not only that, allowing Google to track your YouTube history might have the most obvious benefit of all: it helps YouTube figure out what kind of videos you like so it can provide more information about the kind of content you’ll enjoy.

Here’s how to take a look at your YouTube history and, if you want, how to delete it, either manually or at three- or 18-month intervals. Just like with Web and App Activities, we recommend that you set YouTube to delete your data every three months. That’s long enough that YouTube recommendations will stay up to date, but it doesn’t leave a trail of years of personal data behind.

• 1. Sign in to your Google account and select Data and Personalization from the navigation bar.
• 2. To see a list of all the YouTube data Google has recorded, scroll down to Activity Controls and select YouTube History.
• 3. If you want Google to stop monitoring YouTube search and viewing full history, turn off the switch on this page. To prevent Google from monitoring only the videos you watch or only your searches, uncheck the appropriate box.
• 4. To set Google to automatically delete your YouTube data never or every three or 18 months, select Delete automatically and choose the time interval you prefer. Google will delete all current data prior to the specified period. For example, if you choose three months, all information older than three months will be deleted immediately.
• 5. After you choose an Auto-Delete setting, a popup will appear asking you to confirm. Select Delete or Confirm.
• 6. Next, click Manage Activities. This lists every search you do and every video you watch.
• 7. To delete specific days, select the trash can icon to the right of the day, then select Received. To get more specific details or to delete individual items, select the icon with three dots overlapping, then choose Delete or Details.
• 8. If you prefer to delete some or all of your history manually, select the three-dot overlapping icon to the right of the search bar at the top of the page and choose Delete Activity then choose Last Hour, Last Day, All Time, or Custom Interval.
• 9. To make sure that your YouTube data is really gone, start again with Check Activities in Step 2, then after Manage Activities in Step 4 make sure that whatever is present (if you deleted them there should be nothing) only goes back to the three or 18 months you selected in Step 5.