Can Google access your personal information?

Treating your information responsibly

We believe that products should keep your information for only as long as it's useful and helpful to youwhether thats being able to find your favorite destinations in Maps or getting recommendations for what to watch on YouTube.

Thats why last year we introduced auto-delete controls, which give you the choice to have Google automatically and continuously delete your Location History, search, voice and YouTube activity data after 3 months or 18 months. We continue to challenge ourselves to do more with less, and today were changing our data retention practices to make auto-delete the default for our core activity settings.

Heres how it works: Starting today, the first time you turn on Location Historywhich is off by defaultyour auto-delete option will be set to 18 months by default. Web & App Activity auto-delete will also default to 18 months for new accounts. This means your activity data will be automatically and continuously deleted after 18 months, rather than kept until you choose to delete it. You can always turn these settings off or change your auto-delete option.

If youve already had Location History and Web & App Activity turned on, we wont be changing your settings. But we will actively remind you about the auto-delete controls through in-product notifications and emails, so you can choose the auto-delete setting that works for you.

Proactively protecting your information

Protecting your privacy starts with the worlds most advanced security. We provide automatic protections across all of our products, including Safe Browsing, which protects more than 4 billion devices from phishing and malware every day, and Google Play Protect, which scans your apps before, during and after download to help keep your devices safe.

Five years ago we launched Security Checkup, an easy, one stop shop for securing your Google Account. In one click we'll give you a snapshot of your Account security and offer personalized recommendations to help keep your data safe. In the coming weeks, Password Checkup, our tool that checks if passwords saved to your Google Account have been compromised, will become a core part of Security Checkup.