Google has launched a new dashboard that enables account holders to see much of information the firm has collected about them over the course of the last two decades.
What is Google’s My Activity page?
The My Activity page features a rather terrifying array of web and image searches, web pages visited, YouTube videos viewed, as well as Maps, Google Play activity and more.
While viewing this can be quite daunting, the idea behind the page is to give users more control over the data that Google retains from signed-in sessions.
It’s possible to delete daily and individual cards from the list. Users can even browse to a “Delete Activity By” page in order to delete date ranges or even “All Time,” allowing them to wipe everything from Google’s data stores.
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It’s also possible to search for topics and products to remove those from the record, while you can also begin limiting the type of activity you’re allowing Google to track in the future.
Web & App Activity tracking can be restricted, alongside Device Information, Voice & Audio Activity, YouTube Search history and more.
By deleting existing entries and restricting Google’s permission to collect that data in the future, it gives users much more control over their data.
The My Activity page doesn’t offer data on your Google Maps Timeline, Location History of Contacts list, but you can browser to these from the “Other Activities” page in the main menu.
Web users have long been aware of the perils of allowing advertisers to track web browsing habits, but may not have thought too hard about the information collected by Google while signed into an account.
Have you checked out the My Activity page? Discovered anything startling? Share your comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
