ERASE YOUR PRIVATE DATA FROM GOOGLE
Delete your search and activity data from Google
Google stores details of everything you search for on every device on which you’re signed into your Google account. Officially, this is to “make services more useful for you”, but unofficially it’s so that Google can use the data it collects to build a profile of your interests and target you with relevant adverts.
In fairness to Google, the company has responded to privacy concerns by making it easier to review and delete your data. Go to https://myactivity.google.com in your browser and log into your Google account if prompted. Here you’ll see details of your search queries and other activity across all Google tools, including videos you’ve watched on Youtube (which we’ll come to later).
To delete your search data from Google, you can scroll through the list and click the ‘X’ next to specific entries or days, or save time and effort by wiping the whole lot in one go.
To do this, click the Delete dropdown menu above your activity (see screenshot below), or the ‘Delete activity by’ option in the left-hand menu, then click Always, which will erase all the activity data Google has ever collected about you. Choose which Google products and services you want to delete activity from – 26 are listed, including Android, Chrome, Drive, the Google Play Store and Search – then click Next and click Delete to confirm. Alternatively, select ‘Custom range’ to delete data from a specific time frame, or opt to erase your activity only from the last hour or day.
You can also tell Google to delete your activity data automatically after a specific period of time. Click ‘Web & app activity’ to open the ‘Activity controls’ page and choose ‘Auto-delete’. Select ‘Auto-delete activity older than’ (see screenshot above), then click the dropdown menu to decide how long you want Google to store your data for: three months, 18 months or 36 months (admittedly, this isn’t very flexible). Click ‘Next’ and then Confirm.
If you’d prefer that Google didn’t store your search and activity data at all, go back to the ‘Activity controls’ page and switch off ‘Web & app activity’. Click ‘Pause’ in the confirmation box that opens to stop Google spying on you on all sites, apps and devices on which you’re signed into your account, including your Android phone and tablet.
Wipe your viewing history from Youtube
When you click the History link in Youtube’s left-hand menu, you’re likely to be surprised by the number and variety of videos you’ve watched over the last few weeks, months and years. To wipe the slate clean, both to protect your privacy and to stop Youtube recommending
things to watch, click the ‘Clear all watch history’ button (see screenshot right) or hover over individual videos and click the ‘X’ to delete them from your history. Do the same for videos you’ve searched for by selecting ‘Search history’, then ‘Clear all search history’.
You can prevent Youtube from storing what you watch and search for in future by clicking ‘Pause watch [or search] history’. While you’re there, you can also review and delete every comment you’ve ever posted on Youtube. To set your Youtube data to delete automatically after three, 18 or 36 months, click Manage All Activity, then ‘Auto-delete’ and select your preference.
Remove Youtube videos that you appear in
It’s easy to remove Youtube videos that you’ve uploaded yourself. Just open the Youtube Studio ( https://studio.youtube. com), click Content in the left-hand menu, select the video(s) you want to erase and choose ‘Delete forever’ in the ‘More actions’ menu. Alternatively, you can hide a video by making it ‘Private’.
Removing a video you appear in that doesn’t belong to you isn’t so simple, especially if it’s been posted without your permission. Your best option is to contact the person who uploaded the clip and ask them to remove it – click the About tab on their Youtube channel page and click ‘View email address’ to get their details. If they’re unlikely to take down the video, perhaps because it’s attracting lots of views, you can request that they blur your face or other identifiable elements using the Blur tool in Youtube Studio (see www.snipca.com/39625 for instructions).
If the video uploader won’t comply with, or reply to, your request, click the ‘Report user’ flag button ( 1 in our screenshot below) on their About page and select ‘Report user’, then Privacy 2 . Click ‘Next’ to begin Youtube’s Privacy Complaint Process (you can also access this at www.snipca.com/39626) and follow the instructions.
You’ll be asked to explain how the video violates your privacy, such as exposing your image, full name or home address, and when and where the offending content appears (including in the video description). Heed the warning displayed that submitting false privacy claims can result in your Youtube account being suspended.
Youtube will then ask the uploader to remove or edit their video, without telling them your name or contact details. If they don’t take action within 48 hours, then Youtube will delete the video.
Delete your location history from Google Maps
Google tracks everywhere you go even when you’re not using one of its services, through a feature called Location History on your phone or tablet. To view this intrusive data, open Google Maps in your PC’S browser ( www.google.co.uk/maps), click the three-line menu button in the top-left corner and select ‘Your timeline’. This shows a map of all the places you’ve been while Location History was enabled on your phone.
You can browse this information using the Timeline in the top-left corner of the map: just select a date to see – rather creepily – everywhere you went that day and the route you took. Click the number of places in the bottom-left corner to view all the locations you’ve visited and when you were first and last there.
If you’re uncomfortable about Google stalking you, click the cog icon in the bottom-right corner of the map and select ‘Delete all Location History’ (see screenshot below). This will warn you that the information will be “deleted from your Google Account and neither you nor Google will be able to access it