We are all aware by now that accessing Google’s services – whether it’s YouTube, Search, Maps, or Gmail – you leave a digital trail behind. A vast majority of your online activities are faithfully recorded by the tech giant even when you’re not aware of it.
Starting June 2015, users could access a “My Account” dashboard to control some privacy aspects of their interactions with Google services, but to check their online history required going to different places.
That is, until today. In an attempt at more transparency, Google has decided to give users access to a ‘My Activity’ page, which includes a detailed overview of everything you’ve ever done on either of Google’s services.
Privacy-concerned people who have explicitly forbidden Google to collect this data won’t have much to scroll through but a lot of us will be surprised by the amounts of information gathered in this elaborate report.
It basically includes your entire Chrome browsing history, all the search queries you’ve performed on Google – Web and image searches alike – Google Now cards you’ve seen, videos you’ve watched on YouTube, and much more.
If your online life revolves around your Android device and you heavily rely on Google’s services to surf the Web, this page will likely contain everything you’ve ever done. Given that the Google history is searchable, you can scroll and wonder; if you’re looking for a specific item, you can filter the entire page by date and service.
Moreover, users will be able to access a neat daily review that shows them the number of items per each platform or service they’ve visited that day. It’s a lot to take in at once, so be prepared when you check your activity page.
Not all is included in the main page – the Maps history, for example, has been kept separately but is still available like any other Google history from a menu on the left.
While the new feature is basically an enhanced Chrome history, it might lead some users to prohibit Google from collecting so much information about their online activities. These settings can be adjusted on Google’s Activity Controls page, allowing you to stop Google from storing data.
Image Source: Mashable
