Can You Delete The Background In Google Drawing

How to See and Delete What Google Knows About You

Facebook isn't the but company that knows more about you than you do. Google is as well in the business concern of tracking what you do to sell that data for ads. That means Google has details on where you've been, what you lot've searched for, what you lot've watched and much, much more than.

Here'due south how to swoop into Google'south athenaeum, edit what it knows almost you lot and salve a re-create of it all for yourself.

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Every step you take

You're not paranoid if they're actually tracking your locations, and that's the case with Google'due south Location History. When I opened my Location History map (click hither for yours), it showed me what I already knew: that I've spent fourth dimension primarily in New York and Las Vegas (for CES) over the past even so many years.

To stop Google from geotracking you lot, visit this page and flip the switch for Location History to the off position. To remove entries from your list so that people tin't evidence you the screen and ask "Why were you in that location at that time?", go dorsum to the map and double-click on ane of the red dots that signify where you've been.

That volition show you the route you lot took, and you'll run into a Trash Can icon for deleting the data.

Fortunately for iPhone users, Google doesn't collect as much data from non-Android devices. My map had travel points in three states (California, Las Vegas and New York), and 1 of those (a blip in Alameda, California, dated November 2017) wasn't even me. A colleague who'due south used just Android phones showed me his map, which looked like it was riddled with a rash.

Every search you make

Use Google to search? Google's got a tape of every piffling thing you've asked of its search bar. Open this folio and scroll to encounter the proof. To remove an item, click the three dots in the top correct corner of an entry. There, you'll get the option to Delete.

Every word you lot say

Google wants to make voice recognition tools work well, so when you say "OK Google," it hears that trigger and your following command clearly. If y'all navigate to this page and plow off "Vocalism & Sound Activity," you'll put a stop to that. Click here to get the choice to remove vocalisation records.

Every tab y'all view

If you've relied on Google Chrome, and I sure practice, Google also has a database of every web folio y'all've viewed in the browser. Click hither to run across your listing, and remove private entries by clicking the three dots and clicking delete.

To stop Chrome from collecting your activity, open this page and turn off the switch next to Spider web & App Activity.

Every clip y'all sentry

Since Google also owns YouTube, information technology's got a collection of every single video y'all've watched on that platform. Click here to meet its records of your viewing history, and click the iii dots and then Delete to remove entries.

Every app you use

You know how Cambridge Analytica harvested data from users of a Facebook app called ThisIsYourDigitalLife? Google also allows apps and services to connect to accounts, then information technology'd be practiced to bank check who's tied into your account. Click here to run into which apps you've signed into with Google, and click on each entry to come across what privileges each has.

Once you've clicked on an entry, you'll too meet a Remove Access push so you can cutting that company off from your Google account.

Every detail advertisers purchase well-nigh you

Ever wonder why y'all see the ads you see? Click here to see the topics that Google tells advertisers that you similar. Some of mine are accurate, such as Professional Wrestling and Mac Os. Others, such equally Parenting and Classical Music, are laughably incorrect. Click X to remove an item from the list.

Scrolling downward, yous'll go the gamble to ascertain yourself by gender and age group, as advertisers want to serve ads to their target demographics. Feel free to fudge the details here, only if you exercise, await to encounter less-relevant ads.

Too, visit this page to view and edit the proper name, nickname, email addresses, telephone numbers and other settings that Google has attached to your account.

MORE: Your Privacy Is Gone. Y'all Just Don't Know It Yet

Download all of it

If Google is storing a copy of your digital life, we're guessing yous might want a copy of that database. Google will allow y'all to download your dossier and gives you lot options for which apps you'd rather not be included, as its records move across everything from Google Photos to Google Drive to Hangouts. To get it all, or just some of information technology (yous tin select which categories of data yous want), merely become to the Google Takeout page.

So, aye, it's non just '80's one-hit wonder Rockwell who should be worried that somebody's watching them. Google has records on us all, and it's fourth dimension to pay attention.

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Henry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple tree, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom'southward Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He'south also covered the wild earth of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans.