Google has announced today that it will be bringing privacy controls to Google Search. While they’ve always been accessible from your account page, now they’ll be more easily accessible directly from each Google product, beginning with Search. The firm has plans to bring this feature to Google Maps next year with more of their products adopting the controls after that.
With the new privacy controls, users can now review and delete their recent activity within Search, this saves having to go into the My Activity section of your account. With today’s announcement, Google has introduced the feature on the desktop and on mobile; the Android and the iOS apps will be updated in the coming weeks. To access the feature on the desktop, go to the Google home page and press ‘Control your data in Google Search’ under the Google Search and I’m Feeling Lucky buttons. On mobile, press the hamburger menu and press ‘Your data in Search’.
From the "Your data in Search" page, you’ll see several categories, primarily your search activity which will display all your search results. Here, you’ll also have the option to delete your results from the last hour or all of your Search activity. Google also has an explainer on how your data makes Search better. Scroll down further and you’ll be given hotlinks to enable or disable Web & App Activity, Voice & Audio Activity, as well as Ad personalization, and more.
The development is positive news for both Google and its users; the latter will be able to better control their data, and Google will be able to earn the trust of users who may be more cautious about the data they’re handing over to tech firms and other businesses.