How to download or delete your entire Google search history…will you?

You can ask Google anything and it will reveal thousands of possible answers. But what happens to all those searches? Do they disappear?

Google is now allowing users to download an entire list of everything you have ever searched for! Would you want to see your list of things you’ve googled? Or do you find this unnecessary and possibly dangerous to our privacy?

According to Google’s website “you can download all of your saved search history to see a list of the terms you’ve searched for”. This list is quite extensive as it also includes documentation of users’ email accounts and addresses typed into Google Maps. But what if this information gets into the wrong hands? Google apparently does warn users with a message before they download their search history but is that enough? Do you think this feature will potentially cause a stir for google users around the world?

If you want to download your Google history, follow these steps:

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. Visit your Web & App Activity.
3. In the top right corner of the page, click the Options icon  and select Download.
4. Then click Create Archive
5. Once the download is complete you will receive an email confirmation with a link to the data.

However, you can also delete your Google history:

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. View your Web & App Activity.
3. In the top right corner of the page, click the icon and select Remove Items
4. Then select the time period you would like to delete. Or to delete everything, select “The Beginning of Time”. There is also an option to delete individual searched items or searches from mobile or other devices.
5. Finally, click Remove.

One important aspect to understand is just because you have deleted your search history does not mean your searches are deleted entirely. They are only deleted on your Google account. This is because Google may “store activity separately to prevent spam and abuse to improve [their] services”.

How does this make you feel? Have you ever experienced a breach of privacy because of Google?