Google Wants To Help Delete Your Search History
July 19, 2021Apparently, Google is taking the topic of user privacy seriously. It has announced several tools and features that keep users safe while browsing online and ensure bad actors are denied access to said data. This also includes the need to delete online history as and when it’s deemed necessary.
This feature has been added as an extra layer of protection to Search history. If your Web & App Activity setting is enabled, your search history is saved by default to provide a more personalized online experience with Google’s service. But you still have the ability to manually delete said data when needed.
Keep Data Safe From Prying Eyes
However, if you wish to keep such data away from others who use your device, you can add an extra verification feature for My Activity. When enabled, a user would need to input a password or two-factor authentication before your full history can be viewed.
Related Article: Google May Require You To Use 2 Factor Authentication To Login
Credit: Google
Auto-delete control lets Google periodically delete your search history, automatically. It can delete this and other web & app activity from your account after 3, 18 or 36 months. By default, the auto-delete option has been set to 18 months. You can change this at will.
In addition to this, you can quickly delete the last 15 minutes of saved history with a single tap of a button. It’s already available with the Google app for iOs, but will come later this year for the Android version.
Credit: Google
Google says that users of its Search platform have the same protection as that of banks. The data is encrypted so that hackers or malicious third parties can’t see what you’re doing. It also doesn’t sell your search history to third parties.
Other Privacy Features
Google already has built-in tools that help improve user privacy. A tool like Privacy Checkup, helps users set up their privacy settings. Security Checkup, on the other hand offers personalized recommendations to help protect data and devices. This includes letting you know which apps have access to your account data.
As an extension of this feature, Google will also find out if your passwords stored in Google Password Manager are weak. Such passwords can be compromised by unscrupulous individuals. Google will let you know if any password has been compromised and if you’ve reused it across multiple sites.
