heres how to find out what google knows about you

Every bit ane of the biggest and most pop tech companies on the planet, Google has an enormous database of user data that most of its users can't even retrieve themselves. Fifty-fifty if you are non a privacy buff, Google's data drove should be a concern for you likewise. Only how to run into what Google knows near you?

Luckily, Google doesn't hide the fact that they collect your information beyond multiple services, ranging from Search to Waze. The company allows its users to see, limit, download, or delete this data. That beingness said, yous won't exist able to cease Google collecting your data completely unless y'all terminate using all of its services.

Here'southward a list of what Google knows almost you and how to delete information technology all:

1. Location history
2. Search activity
3. YouTube activity
4. Gmail activity
5. Vox data
6. Analytics data

1. Location history

Google Maps is one of the best Google services. Pretty much everybody uses it at some point in this twenty-four hours and historic period. If you've enabled location tracking on your phone, Google logs where you've been and keeps that information, for skilful. This data goes all the style to the very first day you started using Google Maps.

Why it could be dangerous

The risk of this is that if anyone got access to your account, that person could trace your movements over fourth dimension with incredible accuracy. He may effort to visit you at home or at work or he may visit your habitation while you're on a holiday. The possibilities are endless.

How to plough off location history

Luckily, you can see that in your Maps timeline and determine whether you want that information on Google's servers or whether yous'd rather delete or perchance limit how much information about your location is stored.

Turn off location history:

1. Access Activeness Controls on your Google Account
2. Turn off Location History
3. Confirm changes. This changes the settings for all of your devices affiliated with that particular business relationship

While the corporeality of location data Google has looks pretty creepy, information technology's proficient that you tin can however delete all the location information Google has collected nigh you. For example, in 2017, I told my wife I was going on a business organisation trip to Berlin while I actually went to meet my associate in Gran Canaria. I barely remember the details, but Google has everything with exact timestamps, starting with the flying and ending with a stay at some 2nd-tier motel.

Delete your location history:

1. Go to Location History
2. Click the cogwheel on the bottom correct corner
3. Choose Delete all Location History
4. Tick the box also I empathize and want to delete all Location History
5. Click DELETE LOCATION HISTORY

Chances are you're traveling a lot and using Google Maps to gear up your routes and find places in different countries. Deleting your history would mean you lot'll be starting over without any automobile-suggestions and similar conveniences. In such a case, you can prepare Google to automatically delete your data older than iii or xviii months. This way, Google will notwithstanding know your location but at least won't have the full captain's log.

Automatically delete your location history:

1. Go to Location History
2. Click the cogwheel on the bottom correct corner
3. Choose Automatically delete Location History
4. Pick between three and eighteen months
5. Click Next
6. Confirm your selection past clicking Confirm

Persistent location tracking – is it really off?

At start, it might seem like Google is transparent about the toggle of its Location History. You may even believe that it's as simple as turning information technology off (paused). And then, here's what Google says near this: "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you lot go are no longer stored."

Hither'due south the shocker, though: a report from August, 2018, shows that even with Location History turned off, Google apps yet record your location markers.

Now, that'southward a bummer, specially when you think that you've already turned information technology off and don't have the Big Brother breathing down your neck. Nosotros do understand that this may not be that big of a deal for nigh unless they've committed homicide. Nevertheless, if yous accept the ability to say no to Location History recording, it's pretty misleading that Google still retains that information.

The abovementioned report claims that Google Maps takes a snapshot of your current location whenever y'all open it. This is regardless of your preference not to salve your location data. Information technology means that whenever your app automatically checks for atmospheric condition updates, your whereabouts go recorded.

How nigh searching the web for keywords that would trigger location detection? Let's say y'all're looking for the "nearest papa johns." Simply even when you search for something that has nada to do with your location, Google tin can discover your concrete location. This detection can recollect your exact latitude and longitude, which so gets saved direct to your Google account.

Yous may now wonder what the effective solution may exist. "There has to be a mode to stay nether the radar, correct?" you think to yourself. Turns out, you're right.

How to REALLY turn off location history

If you're on desktop, here's what you should exercise:

1. Access your Google Account
2. At present, under the Data and personalization section on the left, click My Activeness
3. Under Action controls, click Manage activity controls
4. Turn off Web & App Activity and Location History

If you're on mobile:

1. Open your Google Account
2. Go to Data & Personalization
3. Tap the Web & App Activity toggle to turn it off

Hopefully, in that location are no other tricks upwards Google's sleeve to ignore your efforts to switch off your location history.

2. Search activity

Everything you lot search for on Google is recorded and stored. Whether yous use a phone, a PC, or a tablet, if you're logged into whatsoever of your Google accounts, that information is saved.

Contrary to pop conventionalities, deleting your browser history doesn't hibernate all the places y'all've been on the internet. That data is preserved until you lot delete your unabridged search history. Fifty-fifty and so, the fact that you've searched for something remains noted.

If you think that all your data will be gone later yous delete Google Account, call up once again. The visitor will proceed storing some information well-nigh you "to meet specific business needs or legal requirements," or in other words, because they can.

Why it could be unsafe

This information includes all voice searches from your telephone and Google Home, such as "how long before my wife comes dorsum home?" It as well includes the actual voice recording, which could be used against yous in court.

Speaking of courts, there's one recent example when the government used search history against the culprit. Earlier in September, Julija Adlesic and her young man were sentenced by the Slovenian courtroom for attempted insurance fraud. It turned out that the swain searched for bogus limbs before Adlesic amputated her hand with a circular saw, with the hope of getting over $i million in payouts from five insurance companies.

Had he deleted his search activity, or amend yet, used a reliable Virtual Private Network (VPN), chances are his 3-twelvemonth prison sentence would've been shorter. There might not even have been not enough evidence to evidence that this wasn't an accident in the first place.

How to delete search history

Every bit an gorging canis familiaris lover, I was shocked to notice that I watched a x-minute cat compilation at work and even initiated some kind of cat-related search, all in 2020. After this, my only question is how to delete my entire Google history once and for all. Luckily, Sundar Pichai grants me (and you!) this ability. Merely like with location history, you can also prepare an automated deletion.

Delete your search history past topic or production:

1. Go to My Google Activity page
2. In the Search bar, search for topics or products
3. If y'all scroll down long enough, you may encounter a message "Looks similar yous've reached the stop." Don't worry, this is not about your life.
4. To delete all matching activity, select Delete Results from the More Options YouTube user activity menu

Motorcar-delete your search history:

• Go to My Google Action page
• On the left bill of fare, click Delete activeness past
• Cull Ready automatic deletions
• Choice between 3 and eighteen months
• Click Next
• Confirm your selection past clicking Ostend

Delete your entire search history:

1. Become to My Google Activity page
2. On the left menu, click Delete activeness by
3. Choose a time menstruation (All Time and All Products if you want to erase your unabridged history)
4. Click Delete

At present I can sleep well, knowing that all those "best brothels in canary islands" search results have never existed in the start place.

3. YouTube activity

Some might nevertheless not know, but Google has owned YouTube since 2006. It keeps a record of all your YouTube searches and all the videos you watch. While information technology might at starting time seem harmless given that YouTube videos follow strict community guidelines, you actually don't want whatsoever data on yous stored in some data center.

Have you lot ever wondered how you start getting ads after viewing certain videos? Because of the logged YouTube activity, Google knows your religion, whether you are depressed, suicidal, if y'all have a baby on the fashion, and sometimes even who is the male parent.

Why it could be dangerous

Because YouTube belongs to Google, searching and watching some embarrassing videos might outcome in y'all seeing a related ad on some website a few days later at work. Besides, you might be showing your co-worker some inspiring multi-level marketing tricks on YouTube, just correct afterwards the video ends, yous are offered to go on watching some racist podcast S02E11.

How to delete YouTube activeness

While mobile apps have an easy choice to go incognito, pausing your YouTube activity logging on desktop is a bit more than complicated. If you want to do that from YouTube, yous volition have to switch the watch and search history off and on separately, increasing the take chances of forgetting one or another.

That'south why we recommend doing that from Google My Activity page.

Pause YouTube activity logging on desktop:

1. Visit YouTube History on Google My Action
2. Click on Saving activity
3. Select the sliding push abreast YouTube History
4. Confirm the selection by clicking Break
5. Alternatively, to pause search or watched video logging just, leave the advisable box unticked

Just like with Location and Search activities, yous tin set up an automatic deletion for YouTube history.

Auto-delete YouTube History:

1. Visit YouTube History on Google My Activity
2. Click Autodelete (Off)
3. Select your desired period – 3 months or 18 months
4. Click Adjacent and Ostend

All the same, the best matter is to delete both your watch and search history as shortly as possible.

To delete YouTube Picket or Search history:

1. Visit YouTube History on Google My Activity
2. On the left bill of fare bar, click on Delete action by
3. Click Delete

4. Gmail activity

Gmail is a popular mailing tool and most have at least one mailbox. And considering you can use your domain instead of @gmail.com, businesses like information technology too. But what nigh its security and privacy? Unfortunately, there are quite a few concerns.

Why it could be unsafe

Although Google no longer keeps runway of user Gmail accounts, which was a motility meant to solve Gmail's privacy issues, the company seems to have given 3rd party developers free reign in user accounts. These developers apply their apps to scan through the inboxes of users when they sign up for email-based services, sometimes even assuasive their employees to read personal messages.

How to limit Gmail activity

Limit admission to your Gmail account:

1. Visit Google Accounts Settings
2. From the available list of authorized apps, remove access for each private app as you deem fit

You lot may besides desire to download your Gmail data and have a fresh start. This manner, your decade-old love letters won't become a mode for someone to sell y'all Tinder Premium.

Download your Gmail data:

1. Go to Google Takeout
2. Unless you want to download all that Google has about you right now, click Deselect all
3. Curl down and select Hangouts and Mail
4. Click Adjacent step
5. Choose the delivery method from the drop-down
6. Choose Frequency, File blazon & size, and click Create export

In the end, the wisest choice would be to switch from Gmail to a secure email provider. The process is less complicated than it may seem in the first place. Near secure emails will let you import contacts and fifty-fifty emails from Gmail. While it may take some time for your address to gain credibility and non finish up in anybody'southward spam folder, the cost of your privacy is worth the hassle.

five. Vocalisation data: non okay, Google

Every bit it turns out, Google fifty-fifty records and keeps your voice commands. Once you tap the microphone icon on your smartphone, any subsequent utterances are consequently recorded. The same applies to voice-controlled home appliances. Ostensibly, this is to permit you to access vocalization search, too as to help Google improve its voice recognition software.

Why it could be dangerous

If your vocalisation is stored on some server somewhere, there'south a take chances that someone can steal information technology. Ane method of doing so is by initiating a command hidden in a YouTube video. These and so-called Dolphin attacks can initiate sending messages and load websites without you lot being aware.

Also, you may have your voice-allowable device connected to the internet. Then if someone has a record of y'all saying "unlock the gate," they can effectively let themselves in at will. Finally, if malware is already on your device, it tin capture your payment info if you determine to make an online purchase.

How to delete Vocalism data

Delete final recordings with your voice:

1. Say "Hey Google, delete the concluding affair I said to you lot"
2. To delete all records from last calendar week, say "Hey Google, delete everything I said to y'all last week"
3. To delete older records, you'll have to that online from a page that pops-up on your phone

You may also desire to but delete specific voice commands, such as "OK Google, do you think I've gained weight?" In that location'southward a way to practise that besides.

Listen to the recordings and erase them one-by-one:

1. Become to Google's activeness controls
2. Nether Web & App activity, cull Manage Activity
3. Under the search bar, click Filter past engagement and production
4. Scroll down to Voice and Sound, tick the box, and click Utilize
5. Listen to a specific record by clicking Details
6. Delete a specific record by clicking the three dots and selecting Delete

Most likely, you volition desire to simply delete all in that location is. Google allows that likewise.

Delete all vocalization recordings:

1. Go to Google's activity controls
2. Nether Web & App activity, choose Manage Activity
3. Nether the search bar, click Filter by appointment and product
4. Whorl down to Phonation and Sound, tick the box, and click Utilize
5. Click the three dots abreast the search bar
6. Cull Delete results
7. Confirm by clicking Delete

6. Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on

This extension name lacks elegance, just like your browser most likely lacks this important add-on. Until now, y'all've been providing data virtually your browsing habits for free. Even though this information is anonymized, your session can still be singled-out and bank check for the pages you visit, and the time you lot spent on them.

To sum up, opting-out from Google Analytics is for the best. Luckily, Google has developed browser add together-ons for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Net Explorer 11 that block your activities from reaching the website. Installing this extension is a bit more complicated, only you will discover detailed instructions on doing that.

Install Google Analytics opt-out extension:

1. Get to Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on page
2. Click the big blue button on the right
3. Don't read Boosted Terms of Service, merely click Accept and install
4. Salve the file and follow the instructions

How to download my Google data

Google allows users to access all the information they take by downloading a re-create of it. Note that downloading your data doesn't delete it from Google'due south servers:

1. Go to Download Your Data folio
2. Choose which Google products to include in your download
3. Select Side by side
4. Cull your archive's file type
5. Choose how your archive is delivered
6. Click Create archive

When your archive is prepare, Google will send you an email with a link to its location. Depending on the corporeality of information in your account, this procedure could take minutes to hours. Nigh people go the link to their archive the aforementioned 24-hour interval that they requested it.

How Google uses collected information

A huge part of Google's business relies on the ads they show. According to their privacy policy, the data collected about y'all is used to testify you personalized ads on both Google, mobile applications, and on websites that partner with Google. To opt-out, you can turn ad personalization off.

The long and short of it is that the use of Google alone can potentially pose a take a chance to your privacy online. The only way to limit the extent of data collected is by decision-making what's stored, and past reading the privacy policies of whatever apps earlier accepting them and hitting the next button.

How to prevent Google from collecting your information

The only style to stop Google from collecting data almost you is to terminate using its products. And even that is not enough. Whenever you lot visit a website with Google Analytics, which ways most websites, your actions are recorded. And so if you really desire to finish your toxic relationship with Google, follow the instructions beneath.

• Don't use Chrome. In that location are plenty of alternatives nowadays, starting with the well-known Firefox and moving to security-oriented browsers like Brave.
• Don't use Google Search. Nosotros don't recommend Microsoft's Bing, only DuckDuckGo can be a overnice exchange.
• Switch from Google Maps to Maps.me or Here WeGo. And these are simply a couple of available free options.
• Ditch Google Drive. A popular pick is Dropbox but if you want more privacy, give Sync a try.
• From Google Calendar to Lightning Calendar. This option is strikingly like shooting fish in a barrel-to-use and integrates with Thunderbird well.
• Google Docs and other office apps can be substituted with privacy-friendly CryptPad.
• Say goodbye to Google Photos... well, perchance not all the same. I don't have a good culling for it, so for at present, only don't upload your artsy nudes there.
• Don't employ Gmail. It'due south far from secure or private. Consider checking out these alternatives to Gmail.
• Switch from Android to iPhone. This one is non cheap and not ideal either, but unless Windows Phone rises from the dead, this is your only option for now. That is unless you're gear up to install LineageOS on your phone.
• Opt-out from Google Analytics. See the instructions above.

Of class, it would exist naive to recall that getting abroad from Google is truly possible without hurting yourself. You lot may need to collaborate on a shared Google Sail or check Google Search results. You may too find that other navigation apps give y'all worse routes when compared to Google Maps. So, in the end, it's up to you to decide how hardcore anti-Google you want to be.

And to those who say that they have nothing to hide, looking at your search history should be plenty to see that some of that info should stay private. It doesn't have to exist profane – health or financial data is something that most of us don't want in public. Furthermore, all those $.25 of data add upwardly to the point where it becomes easy to place you using your actions online. And when a demand arises for you to stay individual, you'll want this basic right available to you, just similar free speech.

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Source: https://cybernews.com/privacy/what-does-google-know-about-me/

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