It's no secret that Google isn't very private. You may already use some alternatives. But if you still want to use Google apps, take some time to disable some unnecessary Google services that track you.
Web & App Activity
A majority of the settings on your Google account are great for convenience's sake, but it makes your data an easy target for third parties.
You can turn some of these unnecessary Google settings off and it shouldn't affect you.
It might even speed up your internet browsing. Disabling things in Web & App activity is a great place to start.
Here are the steps:
- Once you're signed into Google, click Manage your Google account.
- Click Data & Privacy.
- Scroll Down to Web & App Activity and click it.
- Turn off Web & App Activity.
- Uncheck Chrome history and voice and audio activity.
Location History
Location history saves where you go with your devices, even if you aren't using an app like GPS. Google claims this is designed to give you personalized maps or recommendations based on places you've been.
But it's unnecessary and can be turned off.
Here are the steps:
- Once you're signed into Google, click Manage your Google account.
- Click Data & Privacy.
- Scroll down to Location History and click it.
- Turn off Location History.
- If there's any data stored, you can delete it. Click Auto-delete.
If you travel a lot and need location history, auto delete can automatically remove history after a certain period of time. Set it for 3 months, 18 months, or longer.
YouTube History
You might be sick of the YouTube algorithm showing videos you don't want to watch. Or you might want an overall cleaner YouTube experience.
You can disable some YouTube settings to protect your privacy and clean up the clutter.
Here's how to do it:
- Once you're signed into Google, click Manage your Google account.
- Click Data & Privacy.
- Scroll down to YouTube History and click it.
- Turn off YouTube History.
- Uncheck Include YouTube videos you watch and include your searches.
If you like saving your watch history and searches but don't want them stored forever, you can set up auto-delete. Click auto-delete. Set a time to delete YouTube history for 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
And if you click the Manage History option, you can manually delete your watch history.
Personalized ads
Don't let Google try to sell to you based on what you search or watch. Personalized ads are very unnecessary Google settings that should be turned off.
Here's how:
- Once you're signed into Google, click Manage your Google account.
- Click Data & Privacy.
- Scroll down to Personalized Ads and click My Ad Center.
- In the right-hand corner, turn personalized ads off.
Personal Search Results
Personal search results help make Googling faster. But they're not very private. Google will make predictions based on your searches, and autocomplete results.
They'll also make recommendations based on your searches like places to eat or shows to watch.
You can turn these settings off. Here are the steps:
- Once you're signed into Google, click Manage your Google account.
- Click Data & Privacy.
- Scroll down to Personal results in Search.
- Click the slider to turn Show personal results off.
Wrapping Up
Disable web and app activity to make Chrome private and faster. Turn off location history so Google isn't following your devices wherever you go.
Clean up YouTube by turning off YouTube history settings. And disable some of Google's "personalization" by disabling personalized ads and search results.
And if you're looking to drop Google, consider some alternatives.
