Google is a data-driven firm, and as such, it uses user data to inform product and service development. Data collected may include a user’s advertising identifier, web browsing history, and activity on its many platforms.
Due to their use of official Google Play Services, even the highest-quality Android devices on the market can be tracked in this way. Giving up some of your data is inevitable if you want a personalised experience to come together properly.
On the other hand, you have greater say than ever before over the information stored in your Google account. By customising what data is collected and shared with Google, you can better manage your privacy settings in My Activity.
To improve things, your search history is automatically removed after a few months. The account may still include years’ worth of search data from obsolete devices. Learn everything there is to know about the Google My Activity feature with this comprehensive guide.
Accessing Your Google Account’s “my Activity”
Since there is more than one way to locate Google My Activity on Android, it’s unlikely that a single explanation will work for all users. Nonetheless, the following steps will lead you to your Google account’s primary settings page:
- Switch on your Google app.
- Select your user profile by clicking on your symbol in the top right.
To access your Google account, click the button under the profile you’ve chosen. You can change the settings for your Google account by tapping the button in earlier versions of the Google app.
- In the menu bar, select the Data & privacy option.
- The Browser-Based Route to My Activity
It’s also possible to access Google My Activity through a web browser. You can create a desktop shortcut on a PC or Chromebook, or set a quick link on the homescreen of your smartphone. See how easy it is to access Android’s My Activity app from your home screen with the help of the screenshot below.
- Start at the My Activity landing page on your mobile device’s web browser.
- Click the browser’s options (the three-dot menu, in most cases) and then press Add to Home screen to add a shortcut.
- This Android browser shortcut is compatible with Google Chrome and other browsers.
- Tips for using Google’s My Activity tool to view and control your account’s past actions
It’s time to adjust the Google account history settings now that you have access to the My Activity feature on your device. Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History may all be managed from the main Activity controls page.
Search through them all and pick the options that work best for you. In the sections below, we explain how to use each of the buttons on the Activity page.
Internet and Application Use
Your search preferences for the web and apps can be found in the Web & App Activity section. To get the most out of Google, it’s best to leave this option enabled. This enhances the speed of many Google services and the quality of their recommendations.
In addition, keeping a record of your account activity can be useful. Envision, for instance, conducting an exhaustive study on a single subject. If you’ve lost anything and need to locate it again, simply use your search history.
It’s likely that many of the third-party apps you use—especially those that rely on Google Play Services—are tracking you. It isn’t only the websites you visit. A certain amount of data on your app usage can be collected.
Most apps do this so that they can provide you with more targeted advertisements and enhance your overall app experience. Having this done is not supposed to be invasive of your privacy. If you choose to activate the account setting to record app usage, only then will these details be stored in your account history.
A Chronology of Former Locations
You might be hesitant to use this function, given the sensitive nature of location history tracking. There’s a location tracking option in your profile that you need to activate. Nevertheless, there are cases where it is beneficial to allow it.
In one case, your past travel patterns can inform suggestions for new destinations to visit. Whether at home or abroad, this could come in handy if you enjoy exploring local businesses and eating at unique eateries.
If you enable location history, Google Maps will keep track of your trips and display them in a timeline so you can see where you’ve been. Your timeline lets you look back over the events of a given day and see where you were and at what time you visited various places. While not strictly necessary, using this option on your account will provide a handy visual representation of your travel history.
