Google is altering some of its data handling practices and has announced that it will automatically delete new users’ personal after a period of time. In a statement attributed to CEO Sundar Pichai, he made it known that the company is focused on three important principles when it comes to user data, these principles are keeping your information safe, treating it responsibly and putting you in control.
Google operates a number of services that collect users’ personal data including YouTube, Maps and Chrome. This data is useful in ensuring that it provides users with a customized experience, but is also a source of worry for those who are privacy-conscious. This has made the company consider some of its user protection policies, as it has announced that it will now delete users’ history automatically after 18 months.
Google began letting users automatically delete their history after 3 or 18 months last year, although this feature was not enabled by default. Google will delete data for location history, search history and voice commands from Assistant or Home. This new default from the company only applies to new users, existing Google Accounts will not see any changes but they can enable this feature from the Activity Page.
The company will also simplify Chrome’s Incognito mode, letting users switch to this mode with a long-press on their profile picture.
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