Why You Might Want to Delete Your Google Browser History Before Next Week

February 24, 2012

As of March 1, Google’s new, “shorter and easier to read” privacy policy will go into effect. At that time, the search giant that also includes products such as YouTube, Gmail and Calendar will begin “[treating] you as a single user across all [of its] products.” An example provided by the company is letting you know you’re late for a meeting based on your location and calendar schedule.

(Related: ‘Real News From The Blaze’ breaks down how Google’s new privacy policy … breaches your privacy)

So, what is there to do if you want Google to hold a little less personal information about you? The Daily Mail suggests a good starting step is to delete your browser history. It even offers the steps on how to do so:

1. Go to the Google homepage and sign into your account. Use the dropdown menu under your name in the upper right-hand corner to access your settings. Click on “account settings”, like below.

2. Next, find the section called “Services” and you’ll see a link to “View, enable, or disable web history”, shown in the red box below. Click on it.

3. Finally, you can remove all of your search details by clicking on “Remove Web History”, shown in the red box below. Once you have done this your history will remain disabled until you turn it back on.

The Daily Mail notes that while clearing your browsing history won’t prevent Google from storing this info for its own purposes, it will at least become anonymous.

Google announced in January that it would be reducing its more than 60 privacy policies into one cohesive message. With this new policy, if you are logged into Google, the company may be able to collect your information from one service to another, recognizing preferences and making connections across its platforms. If you think not logging into Google will prevent tracking, the Daily Mail points out that the company will just track you by IP address. While Google says that this updated policy doesn’t deviate from its core principals.

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SOURCE: Liz Klimas - The Blaze