How to delete your Google Browsing History before new policy

[Paul Revered]

How to delete your Google Browsing History before new policy

By JohnThomas Didymus
Feb 24, 2012

With just a week to go before Google changes to its new privacy policy that allows it to gather, store and use personal information, users have a last chance to delete their Google Browsing History, along with any damning information therein.
Tech News Daily reports that once Google's new unified privacy policy takes effect all data already collected about you, including search queries, sites visited, age, gender and location will be gathered and assigned to your online identity represented by your Gmail and YouTube accounts. After the policy takes effect you are not allowed to opt out without abandoning Google altogether. But now before the policy takes effect, you have the option of deleting your Google Web History by modifying your settings so that Google is unable to associate data collected about you with your Gmail or YouTube accounts.
Tech News Daily reports that Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that advocates for online privacy, says: "Search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more."
EFF advises all Google users to delete their web history.
Meanwhile, Center for Digital Democracy has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking the Commission to sue Google to stop the policy change. Tech News Daily reports FTC can impose fines up to $16,000 per day for violation.
Daily Mail reports that deleting your browsing history before March 1 when Google's new privacy policy comes into effect will limit Google's ability to track and record your every move online. The process is simple. Follow the steps below:
1. Go to the google homepage and sign into your account.
2. Click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper-right hand corner of your screen.
3. Click accounts settings
4. Find the "Services section"
5. Under "Services" there is a sub-section that reads "View, enable, disable web history." Click the link next to it that reads: "Go to Web History."
6. Click on "Remove all Web History"
When you click on "Remove all Web History," a message appears that says " Web History is Paused." What this means is that while Google will continue gathering and storing information about your web history it will make all data anonymous, that is, Google will not associate your Web History information with your online accounts and will therefore be unable to send you customized search results.
Google's ability to gather personalized information about you by assigning data to your Gmail and YouTube accounts will remain "Paused" till you click "Resume."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...7#ixzz1nYsm1e9

[Pauls' Revere]

Done.

and many thanks!

[AceNZ]

I've changed my default search engine to Bing. Not quite as good as Google in some things, but good enough.

[onlyrp]

my oldest gmail account didn't even have Web history turned on, it asked if I wanted to turn it on.

Did anybody else have this experience?

[Keith and stuff]

my oldest gmail account didn't even have Web history turned on, it asked if I wanted to turn it on.

Did anybody else have this experience?

Yes. The directions listed in the OP were confusing and not completely applicable to me. Mine wasn't turned on. I choose to leave it not turned on.

[onlyrp]

Yes. The directions listed in the OP were confusing and not completely applicable to me. Mine wasn't turned on. I choose to leave it not turned on.

my guess is, either they had it turned on for recent accounts, or youtube accounts.

I don't have a 2nd gmail account I worry about, but I do have a separate youtube account, which I rarely used, and won't delete the web history.

[idiom]

My older account had it off.... my newer account has had it on this whole time!

[onlyrp]

My older account had it off.... my newer account has had it on this whole time!

both gmail? or was one started as a youtube account?

[Lishy]

Thanks!

[KingNothing]

Thanks for that.

I LOVE Google. I think they're doing amazing things with technology for humanity, and I'm sure they're well-intentioned. ....but I still don't like the idea of ANY corporation, especially one with ties to governments, building such a vast database of user information.

[IPSecure]

For IE users, there is a new tracking protection list specifically for google.
(Tools/Tracking Protection...)

http://www.iegallery.com/en/trackingprotectionlists/

[AceNZ]

For IE users, there is a new tracking protection list specifically for google.
(Tools/Tracking Protection...)

http://www.iegallery.com/en/trackingprotectionlists/

Firefox users can accomplish pretty much the same thing using AdBlock Plus:

http://adblockplus.org/en/

[extrmmxer]

Does anybody use scroogle?

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...le-ssl-search/

[123tim]

I don't understand how Google let me log in with my yahoo account when I never allow any association with any other web accounts.

I was surprised to see a detailed (although somewhat spotty) history going back to 2009.

Is this history associated with my email account, or my IP address?


Edit: I guess that this was associated with my email address....
When I went to delete my history, I was asked if I wanted to delete the history for "xxxx@yahoo.com."




By the way, I don't believe that this was the complete history. I also don't believe that hasn't already been stored someplace else.

[Athan]

I've changed my default search engine to Bing. Not quite as good as Google in some things, but good enough.

I've noticed Bing always manages to have the worst news articles on Paul. It was downright hostile half a year ago.

[azxd]

my oldest gmail account didn't even have Web history turned on, it asked if I wanted to turn it on.

Did anybody else have this experience?

Never had a gmail account, and my web history was never turned on.

[Paul Revered]

my guess is, either they had it turned on for recent accounts, or youtube accounts.

I don't have a 2nd gmail account I worry about, but I do have a separate youtube account, which I rarely used, and won't delete the web history.

I have not confirmed this; but here is a comment that I read on another site:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunatly ifyou are running XP or higher it does not delete it.
It compresses it and can be recalled with system restore.

If you want to delete anything, any files, recycle bin, or any trash, from your outer, permanently you need to,


Turn off system restore, befor you do anything.