Many users are increasingly concerned about their privacy. These days, many services collect information that might initially seem insignificant, but the truth is that much of this data could be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. But what do these services do with our data? Can we delete it? Today we're going to show you how to delete the data stored in Google.
How to automatically delete your location and activity history on Google
From the official Google blog we get this new functionality integrated into the Google account settings that will allow you to schedule an automatic deletion of all stored data that has to do with the location and activity of your profile. This is a function that at the time of writing this article was not fully activated, however, the company has confirmed that it will be active in all accounts from one moment to the next.
Thanks to this functionality we can schedule an automatic deletion of all data related to location history, daily activity, web history and application history. Currently, the account allows the activation or deactivation of this automatic registration, as well as the possibility of manual deletion of certain days.
But the new functionality wants to make things easier for us, and incidentally reinforce the trust of users in front of Google. The new programming button will allow you to set an automatic deletion of the data according to 3 criteria:
- Manual erase: There will be no changes and we will have to continue deleting the data manually, being able to select exactly what we want to delete.
- Deleted after 18 months: All data older than 18 months will be automatically deleted without further action.
- Deleted after 3 months: Google will only store data less than 3 months old, so the oldest will be automatically deleted.
Set it and forget it: Rolling out soon to your Google Account, new auto-delete controls will make it even easier to manage your Location History and activity data → https://t.co/IkOP6srCjA pic.twitter.com/DIzQ4yJZrA
— Google (@Google) May 1, 2019
To activate this function (when it is available in your account), you will only have to access the link that we leave you below and activate the programming in the section of your choice. For example, you can automatically delete the location data and leave the Web and Application data intact.
What do we gain and what do we lose by erasing the data?
The first thing that will come to mind is related to your privacy. Google will not have your data, so you can rest easy, however, you must take into account that only data older than three months can be automatically deleted. If you do not want to leave a trace, you will have to do it manually. On the other hand, all this stored data is used for Google services to work in a more personalized way with your profile. Functions like Google Now or Google's own assistant will have less information (none, to be exact) with which to offer their services effectively.