It's well known that Google collects a lot of information about users when they use the company's services. However, the company allows people to easily find and delete this data, displaying most of it on one site.
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So let’s take a look at how you can find out what Google knows about you (or at least most of it) and how you can delete it, if you want. Once you delete the data from your Google Account, the company immediately begins removing it and stops using it for personalization. Google says it begins “a process designed to securely and completely delete the data from our storage systems.” However, it may retain some information for legal requirements.
Google Accounts
First, to see what information Google has about you, you need to visit the “My account” website. In this section, you can see the information you have provided, as well as the data the company collects in the background.
On the site you can see various things, related to the security and privacy of your account, available storage space, a quick link to the personalization section, etc.
To begin the process of finding and deleting information, first go to the “Info” tab, located in the left column.
Here you'll see information like your name, nickname (usually your first name), date of birth, gender, backup email addresses for account recovery, and phone numbers. Clicking on any of this information will take you to a screen where you can manage this data.
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Almost all of this information can be deleted or, if not, can be changed. The main data that Google insists on keeping is your name and nickname. If Google has your date of birth, it can't be deleted, but you can change it and choose who can see it. You also can't change or delete your alternate usernames, if you have any.
A little further down the “Personal Information” page, there is a box titled “Choose what others see.” Click the “Go to About me” link.You won’t delete any information here, but you will choose who can see it across all Google services.
History
Your activity history includes your Chrome browser browsing history, search history, YouTube search and watch history, and location history.
Location History is the most critical for personal privacy. Go to the “& personalization” section, also located in the left column in My Account. Go to Data & personalization > Activity Controls > Location History.
On the next screen, you'll see a series of options, including the ability to turn location history on and off. There's also an auto-delete. The "manage activity" section opens Google Maps, where you can delete the information Google has on a case-by-case basis.
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As for “ Web & App Activity,” it’s also under Data & Personalization. Go to Data & Personalization > Activity Controls > Web & App Activity. Again, you’ll be taken to a second page where you can turn off Chrome history and activity with a single click . There’s also an option to not save voice recordings. This setting is off by default, but if you have it turned on and decide to turn it off, your previous recordings won’t be deleted.
Finally, there's "Your YouTube History," which includes your watch and search history. This is located under Data & Personalization > Activity Controls > YouTube History and follows the same basic settings we saw in the other two sections.
Contacts and ad personalization
If you want to remove contacts from Google, you can go to “People & sharing”, also located in the left column of the My Account page. After clicking there, go to Contacts .
This section allows you, among other things, to disable features such as automatically saving contacts from your connected devices, such as a phone.
Also, if you want, you can take a look at “Data & personalization > Ad personalization > Go to ad settings.” This section allows you to turn ad personalization on and off across Google products.
By searching the site, you will find other options regarding your data, which you can intervene in if you wish, by activating or deactivating the corresponding options.
Safety
If you look, there’s also a tab called “Security” which includes information you usually don’t want to change or that Google insists on keeping so you can get back into your account if you lose your password. If you’re using another account recovery method, it might be a good idea to remove your phone number. Using your phone number for SMS authentication isn’t completely secure. A better option is to use a two-factor authentication app like Google Authenticator.
Finally, there is the “& subscriptions” section. If you no longer want to use Google Pay, you can delete it. This section also allows you to manage your YouTube subscriptions and any purchases you made using search, maps, or Google Assistant.
Google has a lot of information about you, but as you've seen, you can edit most of it from a single site. It's up to you to gain more control over your data (at least to a point).
Source: PCWorld
