We, the people, have become the products in today’s age of internet advertising. Many large networks and websites, such as Facebook and Google, rely on our data to thrive. They create profiles of people by watching their physical and online activities and selling them to advertisers so that they may better target their adverts.
One of the most effective ways for these networks to develop user profiles is to track actual position via your smartphone. Google is one of the most important platforms for this. The corporation can develop substantial profiles on all of its users by tracking people who are signed into their Google Account.
While Google earns from the information obtained by tracking its users’ actual whereabouts, it also helps to provide a more personalized and useful experience. Instead of serving up relevant search results for businesses and locations all over the world, the company uses location data to serve up appropriate search results for businesses and locations close to you.
Users should, however, have the choice to opt out of this tracking, which the company, happily, makes pretty easy.
How to turn off Google’s location tracking completely
With over 1.5 billion users, you’re likely to have a Google account that tracks your physical position whenever feasible. Fortunately, you can completely disable it. Here’s how it’s done:
- Head to Google.com and log in at the top right
- Select Manage your Google Account from the Account icon at the top.
- On the left, click the Data & Personalization tab.
- Select Web & App Activity
- With the slider, turn off the option.
- Confirm
- In the Data & personalization tab, repeat the process for the Location History option.
This will entirely disable Google’s location monitoring. The web & app activity option disables data collection while using a Google app or website, while the location history option disables any passive tracking that occurs just by carrying your smartphone about.
Apps like Google Maps will still need your location to function, but they won’t be able to save any information gathered during use.
As a reminder, turning off these features would severely limit the functionality of some Google apps. You will no longer receive relevant search results or personalized advertisements for local businesses or areas.
The company’s tracking is why it can cultivate the personalized user experience that we’ve all grown accustomed to.