Skip to main content

Google Will now auto-delete location and search history by default for new users.


On Wednesday, Google announced broad changes in its default data practices for new users, including a significant expansion in the company’s willingness to automatically delete data.

In a blog post announcing the changes, CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized the company’s commitment to privacy, security, and user choice. “As we design our products, we focus on three important principles: keeping your information safe, treating it responsibly, and putting you in control,” Pichai wrote. “Today, we are announcing privacy improvements to help do that.”

Google’s auto-delete feature applies to search history (on web or in-app), location history, and voice commands collected through the Google Assistant or devices like Google Home. Google logs that data in its My Activity page, where users can see what data points have been collected and manually delete specific items. Historically, Google has retained that information indefinitely, but in 2019, the company rolled out a way to automatically delete data points after three months or 18 months, depending on the chosen setting.

Starting today, those settings will be on by default for new users. Google will set web and app searches to auto-delete after 18 months even if users take no action at all. Google’s location history is off by default, but when users turn it on, it will also default to an 18-month deletion schedule.


The new defaults will only apply to new users, and existing Google accounts won’t see any settings change. However, Google will also be promoting the option on the search page and on YouTube in an effort to drive more users to examine their auto-delete settings. Auto-delete can be turned on from the Activity Controls page.

The system also extends to YouTube history, although the default will be set to three years to ensure the broader data can be used by the platform’s recommendation algorithms.

In some ways, the new settings represent a compromise between the privacy interests of users and Google’s business interests as an ad network. A user’s most recent data is also the most valuable since it can be used to target people who have recently engaged with a particular product. By keeping the last 18 months of activity, Google is able to retain most of that ad value while also deleting most of the data that would otherwise be available.

Alongside the new default settings, Google will also make it easier for users use Chrome’s Incognito mode, allowing mobile users to switch to Incognito mode with a long-press on their profile picture. The feature launches today on iOS and will soon come to Android and other platforms

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SpaceX Internet service Starlink asks for people to try it out

SpaceX is inviting users to receive updates on when the Starlink beta launches Prospective customers are asked to provide email addresses and zip codes Eligible users will receive a user terminal that captures satellite signals The beta is expected to launch later this summer or early fall  SpaceX is now inviting people to register their interest in the Starlink satellites and the internet services they will provide, as the company prepares to roll out the beta tests for the Starlink low-earth orbit (LEO) internet service. The Elon Musk-owned aerospace company intends to provide high speed internet connectivity from the Starlink constellation of satellites. It is expected that there will be gigabit speeds on offer, which for the rest of us means up to 1Gbps internet speeds, with the fairly low latency of up to 25ms. Starlink plans to offer these internet services for around $80 per month, which is priced at par if not lower than similar speed broadband plans in most countries, incl...
2 comments
Read more

New Microsoft Surface Duo !!! What is new ????

The Surface Duo has Finally Arriving in Markets, and it's expensive. On Wednesday, Microsoft Officially announced that Surface Duo costs about $1400 and begins shipping on September 10 in the US.Microsoft yet to announce its plans to launch the Surface Duo in India. What is Surface Duo? The Surface Duo is a Pocket-Sized, dual-Screen device that is neither phone nor tablet. Actually, it's a Combo of Smartphone and Tablets  The biggest highlight of the Surface Duo is that it runs Google’s Android. Microsoft says the company has worked closely with Google to optimize the Android app for the dual-screen device or you can also run the same app across both screens at the same time. This would mean you can edit a Word document on one screen and read a book on Amazon’s Kindle app on another screen. The Surface Duo has access to the Google Play Store and runs Microsoft Launcher. The Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is committed to updating Surface Duo with regular Android and securit...
Post a Comment
Read more

Neuralink: Elon Musk unveils pig with chip in its brain

  Elon Musk has unveiled a pig called Gertrude with a coin-sized computer chip in her brain to demonstrate his ambitious plans to create a working brain-to-machine interface. "It's kind of like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires," the billionaire entrepreneur said on a webcast. His start-up Neuralink applied to launch human trials last year. The interface could allow people with neurological conditions to control phones or computers with their minds. Mr.Musk argues such chips could eventually be used to help cure conditions such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injuries. But the long-term ambition is to usher in an age of what Mr.Musk calls "superhuman cognition", in part to combat artificial intelligence so powerful he says it could destroy the human race. Elon Musk reveals brain-hacking plans Gertrude was one of three pigs in pens that took part in Friday's webcast demo. She took a while to get going, but when she ate and sniffed ...
Post a Comment
Read more