The Google Account Settings That Are Tracking Everything You Do
28 Jun 2026 · 4 min read · Comments
Google's free products aren't free. You pay with your data — every search, every video, every map lookup, every email. Here's where it all goes, and how to turn most of it off.
Web & App Activity
Go to myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy and click Web & App Activity. By default, Google records every search you run, every website you visit while signed in, every Google product you use, and every app you open on Android. This data is stored indefinitely unless you set an auto-delete rule. Turn off Web & App Activity, or set it to auto-delete after 3 months. Then click Manage all Web & App Activity and delete what's already stored.
Location History
Also under data-and-privacy, click Location History. If this is on, Google has been building a detailed map of everywhere you've physically been — stored in Google Timeline. In 2023, Google agreed to a $392 million settlement with US state attorneys general for collecting location data even when users had turned off Location History. Turn it off and delete the timeline history.
YouTube Watch and Search History
Every video you watch and every term you search on YouTube is stored and used for ad targeting. Go to myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy → YouTube History. Pause it, then delete the existing history. You can still use YouTube — Google just loses the profile data.
Ad Personalisation
Go to myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy → My Ad Centre → Turn off Ad personalisation. Google uses your entire activity history — search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail content — to build an ad profile. Turning this off doesn't remove you from Google's systems, but it stops your data being actively used for targeting.
You can also view what Google thinks it knows about you under Ad Centre → Your interests. Check it before turning it off — it's instructive.
Gmail Scanning
Google stopped directly scanning Gmail content for ad targeting in 2017 — after a class action lawsuit. However, Gmail content is still scanned for features like Smart Reply and automated categorisation, and third-party apps with Gmail access can still read your emails if you've granted them permission. Check myaccount.google.com/permissions to see every app with access to your Google account and revoke anything you don't recognise.
After completing these settings, Google still has what it's already collected. But going forward, every search, location lookup, and video stays between you and the site — not between you, the site, and Google's ad infrastructure.
