Essential Adjustments to Google Security and Privacy Settings: A Comprehensive Guide
Take charge of your digital privacy with Google! Despite their penchant for tracking your every move online and within their apps, Google provides a host of security and privacy tools to help you manage your data securely. This guide will walk you through several ways to safeguard your information and customize your Google experience.
You'll find these settings on your Google account page. Here's a rundown of what you can expect:
Eliminating stored data automatically
Access your Google account settings, navigate to Web & App Activity, and you'll uncover a treasure trove of data collected by Google. This data encompasses a variety of categories, such as web searches, YouTube videos watched, and more. You can delete individual items or group them by date, app, or delete them all at once.
Even better, you can configure Google to wipe this data after a specified period (3, 18, or 36 months), ensuring your private information stays out of the wrong hands. Alternatively, halt data collection in these categories completely or selectively wipe certain types of information based on your preference.
Stay secure by managing recovery information
Hopefully, you'll never encounter a situation where you're locked out of your account, but if that happens, Google will use your recovery phone number and email address to verify your identity and restore access. To ensure your info is up-to-date, head to Security and then Recovery phone or Recovery email to update the details.
Tailoring the advertisements you see
While evading Google ads is near impossible, you do have some control over what advertisements you see. Click on Data and privacy, followed by My Ad Center to tailor the ads you encounter. Here, you can disable personalized ads, which won't reduce the number of ads but will ensure they're not specifically targeted at your demographic.
Additionally, you can adjust more granular settings by selecting various categories (such as Education or Industry) to turn off personalized ads or modify assumptions Google has made about you (e.g., your relationship status). To fine-tune ad topics even further, click Customize Ads.
Monitoring the dark web for potential leaks
Google can alert you if your personal information is found on the dark web, acting as an early warning for you to change your passwords or take additional precautions. Navigate to the Security tab in your Google account, then click Start monitoring under Dark web report to enable tracking.
Manage location sharing
Visit the Data and privacy page to manage how Google logs your location and who can view it. Click Timeline to customize how location history is stored on specific devices. You can stop logging your location completely, set it up to be automatically deleted after a certain period, or choose to save only selected data.
Navigate to Location sharing to view the contacts who are sharing their location with you and vice versa. You can block any of these contacts from seeing your location or set up email reminders to help remember the feature is active.
Identifying connected devices
It's essential to regularly check for devices associated with your Google account. Click Manage all devices under Security to view the list of devices where your account is signed in. If you come across any unknown devices or notice someone else using your account, you can revoke their access.
Establishing a digital legacy plan
It's crucial to think about what happens to your data after you're gone. Google allows you to create a digital legacy plan for your account, making it easier for your loved ones by choosing who can access your data after a specific period. Head to Data and privacy, then Make a plan for your digital legacy to set this up.
Revoking access for third-party apps
Connected third-party apps provide convenience but come with potential security risks. To minimize exposure, click Security and then See all connections to remove unused or outdated links to third-party apps.
Activate two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to your account by requiring hackers to provide more than just your username and password. Typically, a code from an authenticator app is also required when logging in on a new device. To enable 2FA on your Google account, navigate to Security, then 2-Step Verification, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Choose from various 2FA methods, such as an authenticator app, confirmation prompts on authorized devices, or a physical security key to log in. It's a simple yet powerful tool to enhance your account's security.
- To delete stored data collected by Google, navigate to 'Web & App Activity' in your Google account settings.
- You can configure Google to delete your data automatically after a specified period (3, 18, or 36 months) in the 'Web & App Activity' section of your account settings.
- Google's dark web monitoring service can alert you if your personal information is found on the dark web; enable this feature in the 'Security' tab of your Google account.
- You can manage location sharing by visiting the 'Data and privacy' page on your Google account.
- To establish a digital legacy plan for your account, head to 'Data and privacy' on your Google account and select 'Make a plan for your digital legacy'.
- Activate two-factor authentication (2FA) to add an extra layer of security to your Google account. Access this feature by navigating to 'Security' and then '2-Step Verification' in your Google account.