Change these three Google settings for better privacy

Google regularly records your searches, video viewing history and movement through all of its many services. While this may seem useful for quickly finding sites or places you’ve visited before on a map, this kind of data collection often seems too invasive.

Your private data helps the company deliver results faster, but is also used to deliver personalized ads and “recommended” content. Fortunately, there are built-in tools within your Google Account that allow you to take control and limit exactly what a company can track.

1. Clear and turn off web and app activity

If you use Google search or any application owned by this company, your steps are tracked in detail within the section Web & App Activity.

To stop this, visit the control panel My Activity and apply the following settings:

• Complete shutdown. Select an option from the drop-down menu Turn off to immediately stop further tracking. If you choose Turn off and delete activityyou will not only disable the feature, but permanently delete all previously saved information from Google servers
• Deleting data for individual applications. If you want to remove data only for a specific service (such as Maps, Search, News or Play), you can select that specific application from the menu, view the chronology and click on the icon X remove unwanted items and
• Automatic deletion. You can activate the option at the bottom of the menu Choose an auto-delete option. The system offers you the option to automatically delete data older than 3, 18 or 36 months, which permanently removes older history.

2. Lock location tracking and manage timeline

Google stores data about your movements in a database it calls Timeline (Chronology). It’s an extremely detailed map of all the places you’ve visited, the routes you’ve taken and the trips you’ve taken.

By default, Google now stores this data locally on individual devices and automatically deletes the history after three months.

For maximum control over this data, it is recommended that you open the application Google Maps on your phone and change the following options:

1. Touch your profile icon and select an item Your Timeline
2. Note the cloud icon in the upper right corner. Cloud backup is disabled by default. If you have turned it on before, it is recommended to turn it off again so that the timeline is not available to other synchronized devices
3. You can delete individual days by clicking on the trash can icon or remove only a specific stop via the menu with three dots and
4. Enter the Location & privacy settings via the three-dot menu. Here you can turn off the integration with the Google Photos application, change location access permissions in the phone itself, or completely turn off the chronology option by clicking on the drop-down menu Turn off. Also, be sure to turn off the factory-activated option that allows companies to use your location data to track ads.

Google

Google

3. Disable personalized ads

Google uses your complete search history, YouTube activity and location data to show you ads tailored directly to your interests.

To prevent this, advises PC Magand protect your privacy from advertisers, follow these steps:

• Within your Google account, open the section Data & privacythen find the section Personalized ads.
• Click on the option My Ad Centerand then in the upper right corner, open the drop-down menu and select Turn off. This will immediately clear your saved preferences and prevent Google from using your activity for ad targeting.
• Go back one step to the classifieds section, click on the item Partner ad settings and turn off the option that allows third-party partners and sites to use your data to serve ads.

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We remind you that we also wrote about it how to turn off GPS and Wi-Fi trackingso read that text as well.