Google has, arguably, the biggest suite of products to offer to its users, and they continue to add to it. Tools from Gmail to Classroom and Workspace utilities like Sheets and Docs, it has almost everything to offer. Not only does it have amazing products but several auxiliary tools to complement your efficiency with them, one of them being Google Activity Controls. In this article, we will look at how you can manage your activity on Google using Google Activity Controls.
Manage your Google Account History using Google Activity Controls
It is helpful to first understand what kind of activity Google saves, and it can be categorized into your web and app activity, YouTube search history, and location history. This user data is saved by Google since they believe that it enhances user experience. Everything from your Chrome activity, to the places you visited while having granted Google the location access and your YouTube history is all cataloged under My Activity.
How to edit the saved activity on your Google Account
Let us first see how you can make modifications to the activity that is saved on your Google Account. If you are signed into your account and looking for data that is in one of the three aforementioned categories, you can edit it by following the steps below:
- Visit the My Google Account page and log in
- Click on the Data & Privacy tab from the options pane to your left
- Scroll down till you reach the History Settings section. Here, you will see what categories of data have you allowed Google to store. Click on the ‘My Activity’ option
- This will take you to the My Google Activity Here, click on Web & App activity to visit the Activity controls page
- Scroll to the bottom of this page and you will find and you will find an option named ‘See all activity controls’
- You now have the option to disable your Web & App activity from being stored
- In further Subsettings, you have the option for the deleted activity to “Include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services”
Moreover, you get an option to set the Web & App activity on auto delete as well. It allows you to delete activity older than 3, 18, or 36 months. By not choosing either of these options, you effectively turn it off.
You can manage all your Web & App activity by filtering data according to date & product and deleting selective items individually. Similarly, you can go back to the ‘All activity controls’ main page and edit the Location activity and YouTube history.
Since the option to store Location History is disabled for most people by default, there isn’t any activity to manage. If, however, you aren’t one of them, or if you want to allow Google to store it, you can turn it on. It won’t retrieve your past location history but will start to create new of it.
The YouTube history Subsettings allow you to include your YouTube searches, Google Searches, Voice activity, and also the videos watched in the activity that is stored. The Activity controls page also allows you to configure your personalized ads settings.
To harden your settings further, use the Google Privacy Settings Wizard. Also, read this post on how to opt-out and maintain your privacy when using Google Services. It gives you additional tips which you will find useful.
PS: Ever wondered – What information is available about you on the internet when online?
How Google helps you manage Data with My Activity?
The My Activity section on Google comes in very handy when users want control of their data and its privacy. Based on your Activity controls configurations, your browsing and usage data of different apps and services might be saved. The My Activity option helps you find and delete one or more activities if you feel like it. The activities stored help in providing a better and more efficient search system, but you can delete them if you want.
Read: How to stop Google from listening to you on your Phone
How do I see my Google activity history?
If you ever wonder what all accounts have an access to your Google account, there is a very simple process to figure that out. Go to your My Account page and select activity. Then, click on Manage all devices from the Your devices section. This will present to you a list of all the devices on which your Google account is logged in.
Read: Find out what Google knows about you
We hope that you find this helpful.
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