What is Google’s new auto-delete feature and how to use it

At the I/O 2019’s developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google started the keynote with their updated privacy and security features. The company also mentioned that security and privacy is the central theme of the upcoming Android version. But, what if, users want to take control of their privacy settings and personal data Google already has right now. As per the latest announcement users are now allowed to limit the duration of time for which the data remains stored within the Google Account.

With the help of the new feature, users can now put a tab on Google and set a time frame for which Google can retain their data after which the data will automatically be deleted. For now, there are only two options to choose from -- 3 months and eighteen months. As of now, the auto-delete feature is only available for Web & App Activity that keeps a track record for all the searches and browsing activities. We can expect the same functionality to come across other Google services in future.

Wondering how to go about it, follow our step-by-step guide

First thing first:

By default, Google retains all the users Web & Activity data and Google keep them saved until users delete them manually.

Pre-requisites:

- Updated version of Google App

- Working internet connection

Steps to follow

1.Open account.google.com on the browser or open Google App on your smartphone

2.Head to Web & Activity option

3.Look for the option Choose to delete automatically and click on it

4.It will now open a sub-menu with three options to choose from -- Keep until I delete manually, Keep for 18 months then delete automatically and Keep for 3 months and then delete automatically

5.Make the selection and save

Apart from this, Google also allows users to pause the data collection for Web & App Activities temporarily. In case users do not want to share any data with Google, they can turn off the feature and if that option is enabled, there will be no data stored and hence there will nothing to delete as well.