At this point, it is really a common knowledge that Google knows much more about you than your own friends. It has access to your search history, your preferences, as well as all different kinds of online activity.
However, your browser history is not the same as your Google history. That means that you can delete your browsing history all you want, but Google will keep the one they collect. And that one is much bigger than the one you can see in your browser. Especially since Google records all of the URLs, as well as keywords that you use in your Internet explorations.
What can Google know about you?
Of course, Google is not a spy agency, and collecting and keeping all of that data is not a secret. They are not bragging about what they have found either. Instead, Google just quietly does its work, while it stores and analyzes the data it collected.
But what can that data really tell it about you? Well, surprisingly, a lot. Here, you must remember that analyzing someone and creating their personality profile does not mean reaching some big data discovery. It is all in little details, and parts of your personality that you did not even consider worthy of keeping a secret.
And piece by piece, Google collects that data, and creates a clear picture of who you are, according to the pieces that it collects. From the data it collects, Google knows things like:
- Your first and last name
- Your gender
- When your birthday is
- Your country and phone number, probably address as well
- Your email and password
Next, because of the fact that you probably use it for most of your searches, Google also knows what you do online. This includes:
- What individual pages do you go to
- Which ads interest you enough to click on them
- Both text and voice searches
- Your IP address, as well as cookie info for each site
- What videos do you watch
- Photos and other content that you upload
- Your real-world location
- What emails do you send or get
- Which files do you have on Google Drive
- What events interest you
There is more, but you probably get it by now. You just can’t hide from Google, or at least not without a great effort. Google knows you. You have let it piece together who you are by telling it your plans, purchases, future and past trips, likes and interests. Everything that you have ever typed into this search engine has become a part of who you are.
Now, Google is not some mastermind that will use this info for evil. They have already achieved greatness and world domination. This info is mostly used for providing better service to its users. However, it is still somewhat scary when you think about just how much of your info did you give away.
Today, we will see what you can do about it, and how to get rid of it. Only remember one thing, and that is that this data will not come back after you delete it. That means that Google can’t restore it, but also that you can’t restore it either.
You should think about it, and maybe create a backup since you never know if you might need it someday.
Doing so is not very complicated, and you can do it right now, and here is how:
- Go to Google’s Takeout page
- Scroll down the list of products and mark which ones you want to keep
- Decide which type of archive do you want, as well as a delivery method, and then simply click on ‘Create Archive’
- You will then get a link that will allow you to download your data
That is pretty much all it takes, and now that you have your own copy of the data, it is time to remove it from Google’s grasp.
How to permanently delete Google search history
After you have made a copy of your data, you are free to delete all of it that you do not want Google to have. You can do this by going to the account settings on your own Google account. There, find ‘My activity’, and inside, there is a list of every action that you have ever made. If you scroll down for a minute, you will see just what exactly do they record here.
Now, if you still haven’t changed your mind, there are three steps for you to take that will lead to permanently deleting your activity.
- Find and click on the ‘Menu’ button. It is in your screen’s top left corner
- Choose an option called ‘Delete activity by’
- The various options will appear, but you want the one called ‘Delete by date’. Then change the options from ‘Today’ to ‘All time’. Confirm that it is for ‘All products’, and hit ‘Delete’.
After this is done, all of the past searches, page visits, saved websites and alike will disappear from Google. To remain anonymous, you can change a couple of different settings in your ‘Activity controls‘.
You will not exactly find an option to stop Google from recording your activity ever again. Still, there is a way to pause it from doing this for a while. The process is easy, and all you need to do is find the process that you wish to pause and then turn off the switch next to it.
How to increase your privacy even further?
You will never be completely invisible and non-existent to Google, which is something that you should be aware of right away. Still, there are things that you can do to increase the amount of privacy and protection.
One example of doing this is abandoning it completely. Instead, use one of the anonymous search engines. They will not log any of your activity, and the best examples of this are Startpage and DuckDuckGo.
Another alternative is to use a VPN. VPNs are masters when it comes to keeping you safe and anonymous, and they will provide you with multiple layers of protection. You must be careful and choose one with strong protection, lots of servers, and, of course, it must not log your activities itself.
As the best option here, we recommend TorGuard. It offers many useful features, and you won’t have any problems with it. It will also allow you to choose from several different packages, all created to help you with what you need most. The prices are decent and affordable as well.
Conclusion
Browsing the internet has become a part of our everyday lives. It is more than just a hobby, and with every passing day, it becomes even more important to us.
However, we must remember that it is not only us that learn about the internet. Instead, the internet also learns about us. We allow much of our personal info to go away and become available. Not all at once, of course, but bit by bit.
Online services, search engines, and similar ‘entities’ that collect this info are patient. They don’t have to rush us, and they know that we will allow them to know whatever they want, in time.
So stop sharing the info, delete what you have already shared, and turn a new, anonymous leaf. Private search engines and VPNs can help with that, and they will allow you anonymity once again.
