Google is going to roll out a new feature that makes it easy to manage web and app activity and location history.
Just about anyone knows that the Alphabet-owned company stores data of its users, from the things they browse on, say, Chrome to the places they go to. With the new tools, they won't have to worry too much about that.
Deleting Google Activity Is Getting Easier
Announced in a blog post, the new auto-delete controls will allow users to set fixed time limits on how long they're willing to let Google keep their location history or web and app activity.
They can choose between three months or 18 months, and after the time is up, their data will be wiped off the company's servers.
For the uninitiated, Google already lets its users delete these kinds of data, but they've always had to do it manually. They've also always had the ability to opt out of these activity trackers in their account settings. Just to be clear, these options will remain available even after the auto-delete tools launch.
There's no word on an exact release date, but Google says the feature will be available "in the coming weeks."
It's worth mentioning that there are other activities that the company tracks, such as device information, voice and audio activity, YouTube search history, and YouTube watch history. Initially, the automatic controls will be for web and app activity and location history, but it's not a stretch to think that support will expand to the others sometime in the foreseeable future as well.
Privacy Concerns
There has been a growing concern over users' privacy online, especially since the recent issues involving tech companies such as Google and Facebook. Speaking of which, Facebook also took the wraps off Clear History, a feature that's similar to what the Alphabet-owned company had just introduced. However, it has yet to launch it, despite announcing it back in 2018.
At any rate, it's good to see companies putting in the effort to make managing data and such a whole lot easier for users.
