Google begins permanently deleting users’ location history Google

Google said it will delete everything it knows about sites users have previously visited, a year after it committed to reducing the amount of personal data it stores about users.

The company’s “Timeline” feature — formerly known as Location History — will still work for those who choose to use it, allowing them to scroll back through decades of potential travel history to check where they were at a specific time.

But all the data required to run the feature will be saved locally, on their phone or tablet, without any of it being stored on the company’s servers.

In an email sent by the company to map users, and seen by The Guardian, Google said they have until December 1 to save all their old trips before they are deleted forever.

Users will still be able to back up their data if they are worried about losing it or want to sync it across devices but this will no longer happen by default.

The company is also working to reduce the default amount of time that location history is stored. Now, it will begin deleting previous sites after just three months, down from the previous default of a year and a half.

In a blog post announcing the changes, Google did not give a specific reason for the updates, other than to note that users may want to delete information from their location history if they are “planning a surprise birthday party.”

“Your location information is personal,” the company added. “We’re committed to keeping you safe, private and in control. Remember: Google Maps never sells your data to anyone, including advertisers.

But the company has come under increasing pressure to help users keep their location private in the face of aggressive law enforcement efforts to weaponize its stored information.

For example, the alleged surveillance requests forced Google to hand over information about every user in a given area at a given time, necessarily including much information that had no other connection to a crime than a ping of a GPS signal.

These clashes came after the US Supreme Court invalidated Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed Americans’ right to abortion. The company has committed to deleting information about searches for abortion clinics to protect women from being criminalized based on their search history.

But an investigation by The Guardian later that year revealed that the company’s location history still stored enough information about a researcher’s movements to reveal exactly which Planned Parenthood branch was visited and when, and that the location was even tagged with a pin – on Although it is not explicitly stored as a clinic.