Paul Sakuma/AP FILE - In this Sept. 2, 2008, file photo Google co-founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page talk about the new Google Browser, "Chrome," during a news conference at Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Page and Brin are stepping down from their roles within the parent company, Alphabet. Page, who had been serving as CEO of Alphabet, and Brin, who had been president of Alphabet, will remain on the board of the company. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)<doc-sep>Google will soon let users automatically delete location history and other private data in rolling intervals of either three months or 18 months. "Choose a time limit for how long you want your activity data to be saved—3- or 18-months—and any data older than that will be automatically deleted from your account on an ongoing basis," Google announced yesterday. "These controls are coming first to Location History and Web & App Activity and will roll out in the coming weeks." Google location history saves locations reported from mobile devices that are logged into your Google account, while saved Web and app activity includes "searches and other things you do on Google products and services, like Maps; your location, language, IP address, referrer, and whether you use a browser or an app; Ads you click, or things you buy on an advertiser’s site; [and] Information on your device like recent apps or contact names you searched for." You can already go into your Google activity control settings to completely turn off the features that save your location history and Web and app activity. But the new auto-delete option will provide a middle ground in which users who are concerned about the data storage can save activity data for a non-forever period of time without having to manually delete it once in a while. Chrome browser history as well as "activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services" are currently listed as a subset of Web and app activity in Google's activity controls settings, and the saving of this data can be disabled. The new auto-delete function doesn't appear to cover Chrome history in a preview provided by Google, however. Note how Chrome history is listed separately at the end of this short video showing how you'll be able to enable the auto-delete functionality when it rolls out: What's the advantage of saving the data at all? Google's announcement said that saving the data "can make Google products more useful for you—like recommending a restaurant that you might enjoy, or helping you pick up where you left off on a previous search." Advertisement But Google's disclosures about how it saves data history haven't always been accurate. Last year, the Associated Press found that "several Google apps and websites store user location even if users have turned off Location History." In response, Google changed a help page that erroneously claimed, "With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored." The page now says, "Some location data may continue to be saved in other settings, like Web & App Activity, as part of your use of other services, like Search and Maps, even after you turn off Location History." Google has been facing scrutiny from Congress as lawmakers consider proposals for a new data privacy law. "We work to keep your data private and secure, and we've heard your feedback that we need to provide simpler ways for you to manage or delete it," Google said in its announcement yesterday. No word on auto-deleting other data Google seemed to indicate that the auto-delete function will come to other data when it said, "These controls are coming first to Location History and Web & App Activity." But Google didn't say whether or when its new auto-delete function will be available for any other specific categories of data, such as YouTube search and watch history, or voice recordings from Google Assistant requests. Like location history, Web history, and app activity, you can disable saving of this other data completely in your account settings. Google says that "Device information"—another category that can be turned off completely but isn't included in the new auto-delete function—includes "things like contact lists, calendars, alarms, apps, and music, and can help Google give you more accurate results and suggestions." In its privacy policy, Google says, "We use various technologies to collect and store information, including cookies, pixel tags, local storage, such as browser web storage or application data caches, databases, and server logs." Deleting your data from your Google account should erase it from Google's data centers, except when it's stored in a way that doesn't identify you. "When you delete data, we follow a deletion policy to make sure that your data is safely and completely removed from our servers or retained only in anonymized form," Google says. "Complete deletion of data from our servers... generally takes around two months from the time of deletion" and "often includes up to a month-long recovery period in case the data was removed unintentionally," Google also says. Google also uses encrypted backup storage "to help recover from potential disasters" and says that "[d]ata can remain on these systems for up to six months."<doc-sep>Google on Wednesday announced that it will soon let users automatically delete old location information and web history it has saved on everyone who uses Google services. Currently, you need to remember to visit Google and delete this information, or turn it off completely. But if you turn off location or web history, that can hurt your experience, as Google might not know enough about you to recommend things you might like. This sounds like a happy medium, since you can tell Google to delete all information older than a certain age — either three or 18 months — on a rolling basis. Here's a peek at what it looks like:<doc-sep>
Enlarge Image Google Google is letting users take back a little bit more of their privacy. On Wednesday, the search giant introduced a new autodelete feature for location, app and web history. As opposed to manually having to wipe their histories, with the new feature Google users will be able pick a length of time, either three months or 18 months, that Google will save the data. Any older data will be deleted automatically. The option to let Google keep the data until you manually delete it will also remain. You can also still choose to pause Google's web and app activity tracking. In addition to helping Google with ads, the company says this data allows it to provide better search results and recommendations in apps like Google Maps. Like prior privacy controls, the autodelete function can be enabled in your Google Account. Google says the controls will begin rolling out "in the coming weeks." Google's privacy update comes as tech companies face increasing scrutiny over how they handle user data. While it may not be a complete win, as it appears users still will need to opt in to enable the feature, it's a step in the right direction. Now playing: Watch this: Android apps by the thousands collect user data you can't... How to delete your Google location data 1. Open your Google account 2. Scroll and tap Data & personalization 3. Under Activity Controls, tap Web & App Activity 4. Select Choose to delete automatically 5. Tap Choose how long to keep Web & App Activity 6. Tap to select either 18 months or 3 months, and save Remember, this is rolling out to users, so don't be alarmed if you don't see these options immediately. Originally posted May 1 at 10 a.m. PT.