Data privacy and security are two major concerns among internet users these days. It has become quite difficult to keep a tap on where our data flow and how it handled by big corporations. On the other hand, the governments are also working round the clock on formulating new laws to keep track of the user data and actions. However, most of the users want to take control of their data privacy by blocking access to these giants. We have created a definitive guide to prevent Google from tracking location.
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Google always keeps expanding its free services to facilitate the users, but in-turn it gets control of your personal data. The enormous amount of data helps Google to build AI infrastructure improving neural networks and enhances the service like Google Assistant and Google Voice.
Why Google Track location and other data?
There are many services that help the users but at the extent of their own data. They get your location data to serve traffic feature on Google Maps and to personalize the offerings and search results. Similarly, your photos are used on Google Photos to bring automated highlights. Despite these visible uses, Google ads on its search results and other Google products sites use cookies and keep syncing your search history(if not disabled) to show relevant ads.
What’s the issue with Google Location Tracking?
According to research from Associated Press, it is suspected that the search giant tracks your location even if you disable location history. Google tracks your location to bring automatic weather updates and show other optimized data.
The situation is present on both the Android devices and iPhone users using Google Maps. Approximately more than 2 billion people are sharing their location with Google. The search giant says when you turn the Location History off, “the places you go are no longer stored. When you turn off Location History for your Google Account, it’s off for all devices associated with that Google Account.” However, the researchers found the time-stamped location data from your devices.
Now, the question arises if the Location History or Location option in Settings does not turn off the location data sharing, then how can we disable location history. So here we are helping you to find that deeply buried option to actually turn off location tracking.
Block Google Location Tracking
It’s quite easy to turn off your Google location tracking for both Android and iPhone users, but you have to go deep into your Google account. Follow the steps carefully:
Using Browser and iOS
- Sign in to your Google account on a browser wither on your phone or any other machine.
- Open your Google Account settings from the upper right-hand corner or enter accounts.google.com in the address bar.
- Now, head over to Personal Infor & Privacy and select Go to My Activity.
- Tap, in the left-hand navigation Activity Controls.
- Toggle off the settings named Web & Activity Controls.
On Android Phone
- Open Google App, then head over to Google Account > Google Settings.
- Now, tap on Data & Personalization.
- Toggle Web & App Activity to turn it off or on.
We hope you have successfully stopped Google location tracking on Android and iOS smartphones. If you have any problem, then do let us know via the comments below.
