lennykravitz2004 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 www.google.com/history You have an option to "pause" your web history. You will need to sign in with your Google/gmail account. For those not aware... You've probably heard that starting March 1, Google is going to unify all your privacy data from your various accounts, such as Gmail, YouTube and Web searches. What that means, in part, is that your past Web searches could become part of a big pot of information that's out there for Google to use to establish better profiles of its users for advertisers. Don't want that? It's easy to clear your Google Web search history, but you'll need to do it with haste. Starting Thursday, the privacy policy goes into effect, although it's under fire, both in the U.S. and abroad . Despite the concerns, Google has said that the changes will not bring any new or additional data collection, and that most of its product-specific policies already allow information to be shared across product lines when users sign into their Google accounts. Still, it doesn't hurt to wipe some things off your personal data map, including your searches. To get started, first, go to: Google.com/history . There, you will log in, using your Google sign-in. Once you're logged in, you may be surprised by what you see -- I know I was. I found a history of all my searches, dating back to April 2007. My search history then showed I was doing research on various Palm products for myself (I went on to buy the Treo and still think of it fondly to this day, but don't necessarily want that info used in some weird way): (picture omitted) While I have nothing to hide about these particular searches -- obviously I'm sharing this portion with you here -- I'm not so sure about the rest of the nearly 5 years' worth. So, to wipe out all of that, click "Remove all Web history." You'll be asked, "Are you sure you want to clear your entire web history?" If you do, click the "OK" box. And with that -- you are done. If you're concerned about your YouTube search history, you can follow these steps https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/how-remove-your-youtube-viewing-and-search-history-googles-new-privacy-policy' rel="external nofollow"> outlined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. But be advised, says the EFF, that "disabling Viewing and Search History in your YouTube account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes. It also does not change the fact that any information gathered and stored by Google could be sought by law enforcement." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 So what if you don't have or don't want a Google/gmail account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 I've deleted my history. The problem is that Google doesn't delete THEIR copy of your search history. Now, I don't think they are up to anything nefarious and I'm sure very few people have access to that info and they are heavily watched, but it does make me wonder about future use of google. For everyday stuff I'll probably still use it, but if there is something that I'd like to search but keep private (midgets), I might stick to a site like duckduckgo where they don't track your stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 but if there is something that I'd like to search but keep private (midgets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I looked and i didnt have any web history... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I looked and i didnt have any web history... If you use an iGoogle page, than yes you do. You just don't keep your copy of it. Google still has it's copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just deleted all mine....my list went back to 2007, and showed a ton of youtube searches I had completely forgotten about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennykravitz2004 Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Just deleted all mine....my list went back to 2007, and showed a ton of youtube searches I had completely forgotten about What I find so interesting about your statement, is the author who penned (keyboarded?) this article also had a screenshot of her history, and it also went back to '07. Coincidence, or has Google been storing all of our info since then? That is something I do not recall hearing about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_the_swammi Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 What I find so interesting about your statement, is the author who penned (keyboarded?) this article also had a screenshot of her history, and it also went back to '07. Coincidence, or has Google been storing all of our info since then? That is something I do not recall hearing about... no idea if its a random 5-year limit, or something else....I didn't note the month within 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaP'N GRuNGe Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 If you use an iGoogle page, than yes you do. You just don't keep your copy of it. Google still has it's copy. I hit the link, logged in with a couple different gmail accounts, and it said i had no history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 What I find so interesting about your statement, is the author who penned (keyboarded?) this article also had a screenshot of her history, and it also went back to '07. Coincidence, or has Google been storing all of our info since then? That is something I do not recall hearing about... I believe that is about when the iGoogle pages (or your google page was linked with the gmail account) started. I hit the link, logged in with a couple different gmail accounts, and it said i had no history. It mainly depends on if your google page was linked with an email address. If it was, google has always kept all your search info. So you've always had the option to not have them show you your recorded history. In fact after you clear your current history it automatically "pauses" the record of your searches until you tell it differently. That doesn't mean that they don't keep all that info because they do. They just will no longer show you the info and use it to improve your future searches. Just like they scan all your gmail for key words for directed advertisements. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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