Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
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Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#2Will they also untrain the machine learning model that they've fed all of this data into to predict exactly what kind of ads are most likely to get you to spend money? How about slurping up data for users who don't have an account but send a ping to google on every goddamn page on the internet?
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#3This is welcomed, but they might do better to remove the requirement to have the Web/Location/App history enabled for apparently unrelated features.
E.g. I cant store my home location in Google Maps without turning on Web & App activity history. Why? I cant share my current location (not historic, just my latest location - they only need to store one) with my partner unless I turn on Web and Location history. Why?
I am sure a lot of people will now pipe-up and say "Ah well they want your data! That is why!". Kthx bai for that - I get it.
It strikes me as this being a "nudge" more than anything, or perhaps just a cut-corner to get a feature enabled rather than support something custom (e.g. in the case of my current location vs location history, it was probably easier for them to build something that just picks the most-recent record off of the top of your location history rather than create something new for only storing the most recent ping independently from location history along with all the privacy controls, legal reviews, documentation, and UI fiddly bits that go along with supporting something new)
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#4Great, another thing they deprecate, my own history. /s
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#5Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#6Will that remove the history from Google's Sensorvault?[0] Because if not, this is just theater.
[0]https://www.eff.org/es/deeplinks/2019/04/googles-sensorvault...
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#7I only care about my privacy when I'm near where I live.
I don't actually want to delete my experiences traveling though. I actually want Google to archive my trips so I can reference them later. That one time I went to Hawaii or the trip to Germany while I was in college.
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#8So does this actually delete it ... for Google?
Deleting it from say my browser, maps, or other history is one thing. Does Google no longer have any of it?
Also the top and bottom bars that leave me with like 1/3 usable space on google's blog is really frustrating to read on: https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/automatically...
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#9I'm happy to just leave both settings off entirely. I actually do have some historical location data still stored there, they know where I was a number of years ago.
I almost wonder if leaving it there has a positive effect, as my life has changed, the locations I go have changed, the products and services I use and the stores I patronize have changed, and Google is left with a version of me that is no longer accurate.
Re: Google Will Soon Let Users Automatically Scrub Location and Web History
#10Will they also untrain the machine learning model that they've fed all of this data into to predict exactly what kind of ads are most likely to get you to spend money? How about slurping up data for users who don't have an account but send a ping to google on every goddamn page on the internet?
There's a leap in logic there. Some ads may be harmful, but if so, they shouldn't be used at all.