How to Stop Google From Tracking Your Location And Activities

If you’ve ever had a feeling that somebody’s trailing you, you’re not being paranoid. That’s because Google is always one step behind. The search giant readily admits that it follows your every action — your Web searches, site visits, watched videos, clicked ads, and location history. The search engine company claims it does this to autocomplete your searches, improve YouTube (Android, iOS) recommendations, serve ads, and get you places faster on Google Maps (Android, iOS).

If you’re willing to sacrifice these expediencies, such as improved commute options in Maps and speedier results in Search (Android, iOS), for the sake of privacy, then you can turn off tracking and even delete items from your history.