[ctviggen]

I've been deleting my search history from Google for a while now.  Last week, I realized that not only does Google keep search history, but it keeps all the history for youtube and all the locations you've been if you have an Android phone.  I was shocked.  I had no idea they kept that information.  Why do they need 5+ years of my youtube history and several years of location data?  I deleted all of it and turned off tracking and history. 

If you're interested, do a search on "delete google search history" or "delete google youtube history" or "delete google location history". 

[RDavidson]

It's all about gathering data on your behavior so they can adapt technology to meet your needs (ie data mining) ......and market things to you.
Deleting your history isn't going to do anything with regard to being tracked. As long as you use your phone for the things it is designed for (GPS, phone, text, internet, apps) you're ALWAYS on the grid. May as well accept it and move on, as technology and data use (by the general public and businesses alike) has become part of our daily lives. Unless you're doing anything incriminating, then you have nothing to worry about.

[richidoo]

Another approach is to avoid giving your info and activity to google.

Use free AdBlock plugin to keep targetted ads off of your browser, use free Ghostery plugin to block trackers, and use free Startpage as default search engine in your browser, it lets you search the google database anonymously. If you want to search something not PC and then use hidemyass.com.

You can also set browser to delete cookies when you exit your browser, and manually exclude the few sites that you wish to retain cookies.

Also, the default settings of Windows 10 allow MS to spy on you, so they can try to compete with google in the web ad business. The spying is defeatable, but you have to know about it and you have to make the changes manually.

Google for details. 

[GentleBender]

I appreciate the info on erasing Google data. More tools will come along to help us with this, but NSA has more data on you, which you can't erase. Everyone wants to track you and it should make you feel wanted.

[WGH]

I have no idea why anyone would think that deleting browser history removes all your info from the web servers. Even the directions for removing your Google search and browser activity states:

"When you delete items from your Web & App Activity, they are no longer associated with your Google Account. However, Google may store activity separately to prevent spam and abuse and to improve our services*."

I just wish the data was more accurate so I only see ads for stuff I really want - Hey Google bots, I'm a 67 year old male audiophile and I don't have ED or high blood pressure!

Wayne

*advertising

[FullRangeMan]

I've been deleting my search history from Google for a while now.  Last week, I realized that not only does Google keep search history, but it keeps all the history for youtube and all the locations you've been if you have an Android phone.  I was shocked.  I had no idea they kept that information.  Why do they need 5+ years of my youtube history and several years of location data?  I deleted all of it and turned off tracking and history. 

If you're interested, do a search on "delete google search history" or "delete google youtube history" or "delete google location history".

Mr.G will delete your history only to the public, but never in his database, same for FB and any other social net.

[mav52]

I really don't care. If your looking at sites that could be embarrassing to you later on then maybe some people have something to worry about.  Anyway the gobberment has or should I say already has everything they need to form an opinion about you from your early years to your current years.

[FullRangeMan]

I really don't care. If your looking at sites that could be embarrassing to you later on then maybe some people have something to worry about.  Anyway the gobberment has or should I say already has everything they need to form an opinion about you from your early years to your current years.

...to put one name at a list.

[mav52]

...to put one name at a list.

A list, how about many lists

[ctviggen]

So, Google needs to know where I was three years ago, why?   I can see that they "need" to know where you are now, so that they can offer you info about your current location.  But I can't see why they need info about where I've been in the past.

I think "Don't be evil" = "Be as evil as you can get away with". 

[harri009]

My buddy was showing me how anytime you use the google features that allow you to speak into them it actually records your voice.  He was showing me where he used his phone to voice dictate text messages, emails, searches etc.  We sat there while he played back the audio recordings that Google had on file for him.  I would have partially expected Google to have the typed out record but was supprized to hear the actual recordings of him and his kids in the background etc.

[WGH]

I recently heard an interview with Brewster Kahle, digital librarian and founder of the Internet Archive
https://archive.org/index.php

The Internet Archive indexes the entire world wide web starting in 1996 and is a free library with over 456 billion pages, check it out when you get a chance.

Brewster said that you can request your public information be removed from the Internet Archive. Information inside private websites like Facebook, YouTube, gmail, etc. will exist forever but at least embarrassing info can be scrubbed from one easily searched public database.

[WGH]

So, Google needs to know where I was three years ago, why?   I can see that they "need" to know where you are now, so that they can offer you info about your current location.  But I can't see why they need info about where I've been in the past.

Generally speaking none of the Big Data collected by Google will ever be read by a human, computer algorithms are looking for patterns either for marketing purposes or goverment coup d'état but as the tragedy in San Bernardino is researched sometimes it is useful for data to go back over 3 years.