When it comes to significant historic events, we can all remember where we were when we first heard the news. I can remember where I was on 9/11 and when man landed on the moon but can you remember what you searched for on the 29 November 2012?
Chances are you can’t, but it’s now possible to find out.
Search engines like Google can collect vast amount of data about us that can be used to build a profile of our interests, hopes, fears and activities. Imagine everything you searched for being stored and later analyzed.
College years, holidays, medical conditions, online dating, buying a car, having children or just my news preferences are all there in the keywords that I use when searching for content.
Is there any need for either you or anyone else to have this personal view into your life?
Two years ago, I switched off storage of Google search history with no noticeable effect on my ability to find things. On the other hand, I am sure its inconvenienced a couple of companies that would love to target me for advertising.
Google recently announced the ability to download your entire search history, which if you have a Google account is collected by default. This is a little known feature that comes with a forewarning about the sensitive nature of the data.
If the data is so sensitive then why was there no warning that someone was collecting it to start with? Maybe it should be an optional feature that I could choose to switch on?
I recommend that you make a conscious decision on whether someone needs to be collecting this or whether you feel that you may need this for some reason in the future (if you can think of one please let me know).
Changing the history storage options is in your Google account settings in the ‘Account Tools’.
Selecting Account history then opens a screen that allows you to control not only search history but also voice searches, YouTube videos searched for or watched and even the location data that you may be storing. While on this page, be sure to review what history you are willing to share and make the appropriate selections as necessary. As you can see, I have selected to switch off all collection of my history.
Then there is the management of all the historic data, it might be amusing to go back and look at what you were browsing for before you remove it. This might just highlight to you the need to manage what is collected!
