Deleting your Google browsing history

The use of Google as the default for almost everything in our live: email, search, Youtube, social networking, and much more is pretty much complete. A couple weeks ago, you may have received some notification that Google is updating its privacy policy. Now, usually when it comes to privacy policies and terms of service, you might skim the first few pages and then just check the box ‘I accept’.

Whether you read the full updated version of the privacy policy or not, it’s important to know that once the policy takes effect on March 1, all information and 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.

If you’re not too keen on the idea of all of this data being associated with your accounts, then you still have the option of turning off your browsing history before March 1 (yes, just one more day). Follow these steps to turn off your Google Web History:

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”