With the advent of technology, our online privacy is being compromised big time. On one hand, people are getting aware of their privacy rights, but on the other hand, invasion of privacy is a real threat.
Whenever we want to search for information about anything, we visit Google. However, have you ever realized, whatever you search on it or whatever you type in the search box, where does it go? Once you search for a piece of information or upload anything online, it remains there for a lifetime, even if you delete it from the uploading source.
If that is true then whatever you have searched is there somewhere or the other and Google has all the information about it. Well, the truth is, Google doesn’t only have the information on what you search for, but it also has access to all the personal details that you have provided to any other website, especially social media websites.
It sounds scary, right. However, the current campaigns against privacy concerns have given you the full authority to allow or disapprove to give out your private information. You can also stop Google from invading your privacy.
Before we brief, you on how to do it, know how Google gets access to your privacy, even though you have never leaked any information intentionally. Google gets all your information from the searches, the links that you must’ve opened or downloaded, from YouTube videos you’ve watched, and there are many other ways.
One of the easiest ways that Google uses to extract your data is via ad personalization. When you watch a sponsored ad for the shoes that you were talking about the day before and you couldn’t find it. Doesn’t it seem fishy? How can Google, which is not even directly connected to you, fetches ads that not only match your interests but also the things, you may have never searched for intentionally.
This happens because when you log in to applications using your Google ID, you connect those apps with your account, thus helping Google to send you personalized ads.
To stop Google from invading your privacy, you should stop ad personalization. You can do this easily by tapping the three vertical dots at the top right corner of your Google Chrome browser. Once you stop ad personalization, Google will not collect your data in the future. But, what about the data that is already safe with them? To get rid of that, you will need to clear up your data.
Here is how to do it. Login to your Google account and tap on manage Google account under the Privacy and Personalization section. Next, you’ll see the following sections: web and app activity tracking, Location History, and YouTube history. Click each one individually and toggle off the switch. Once done with this, you’ll see My Activity under Activity Control. Open the menu from the left sidebar and tap Delete activity. From here choose all the recorded activities and delete them by clicking ‘Delete’.
