Google Privacy Issues: Web History
Feb. 28th, 2012 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charisstomaOriginally posted by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meridian_rose at Google Privacy Issues: Web History
meridian_rose at Google Privacy Issues: Web HistoryOriginally posted by sheryden at Google Privacy Issues: Web History
sheryden at Google Privacy Issues: Web HistoryOriginally posted by anjak_j at Google Privacy Issues: Web History
anjak_j at Google Privacy Issues: Web HistoryIf you are going to do this, you need to do it before March 1st. It has been said that users will not be able to do anything about this after that date.
With reference to Google's policy changes and how everything you do with your Google account will be tied together into their super-cauldron of information, you will probably want to clear your Google Web History out - if you turned that feature on - before month's end. After that, you won't be able to clear it, and everything you search for will be connected with your account.
To check settings and/or clear out your Web History:
1. Go to Google. If you aren't signed in already, do so.
2. In the top right-hand corner you'll find your email address or name, perhaps an icon if you have a Plus account, and a little downward facing arrow. Click on the arrow and a menu will pop up.
3. Click to 'Account Settings'. This will take you to a page called 'Accounts'. (If you have a Plus account, you might go via a Plus sign-in page.)
4. Scroll down to a section called 'Services'. Here you'll find an option called 'View, enable, or disable web history', which has a link next to it. Click on the link.
5. If you never turned web history on, you'll get a page asking if you want to turn this service on. Just click 'No Thanks' and all is good. If you did turn it on, you should have a list of your searches. At the top there is a button that says 'Remove All History'. Click this and follow the instructions which will remove all items from your Web History and pause the feature so nothing else will be added in future.
Also, you can completely remove Web History as a service from your account by clicking THIS LINK, checking the tick-box and confirming you want to remove Web History. To be safe, it is probably best to do the steps above first to remove any history that might have already been collected.
With reference to Google's policy changes and how everything you do with your Google account will be tied together into their super-cauldron of information, you will probably want to clear your Google Web History out - if you turned that feature on - before month's end. After that, you won't be able to clear it, and everything you search for will be connected with your account.
To check settings and/or clear out your Web History:
1. Go to Google. If you aren't signed in already, do so.
2. In the top right-hand corner you'll find your email address or name, perhaps an icon if you have a Plus account, and a little downward facing arrow. Click on the arrow and a menu will pop up.
3. Click to 'Account Settings'. This will take you to a page called 'Accounts'. (If you have a Plus account, you might go via a Plus sign-in page.)
4. Scroll down to a section called 'Services'. Here you'll find an option called 'View, enable, or disable web history', which has a link next to it. Click on the link.
5. If you never turned web history on, you'll get a page asking if you want to turn this service on. Just click 'No Thanks' and all is good. If you did turn it on, you should have a list of your searches. At the top there is a button that says 'Remove All History'. Click this and follow the instructions which will remove all items from your Web History and pause the feature so nothing else will be added in future.
Also, you can completely remove Web History as a service from your account by clicking THIS LINK, checking the tick-box and confirming you want to remove Web History. To be safe, it is probably best to do the steps above first to remove any history that might have already been collected.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-02-29 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-29 08:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-29 02:58 pm (UTC)Am guessing that there's really no protection from Chrome logging browsing history on their end if they can tie it to a web address unless you use a public computer.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-01 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-29 02:51 pm (UTC)Took me 5 minutes to find where the word count function was on Microsoft Word this morning. Normally I work in Works cause it works for me. *grins*
I was just passing this along since there might be others, better and less capable, who might not know this was happening.
*HUGS* I'm in a hugging mood and you're handy and huggable. *grins*
no subject
Date: 2012-02-29 03:46 pm (UTC)The parts that have to do with Gmail know who I IM and email, so they have my husband's name because his account was created while he was looking for a job (and so uses his real name) and sometimes email has my name in it, like when it's between me and my kids' schools.
But the part of Google that have to do with web history and ads think I'm a 18-29 (25?) year old male. They think they same thing about my husband. It turns out we are a much younger gay couple and we never knew it. ☺