You thought you were being careful. You thought you were beating the system. You thought that you'd gone in and turned off location tracking on Google. No sir, you weren't going to let the big 'G' track your whereabouts. It turns out, you didn't actually fool Google at all. In fact, they've been tracking you even when you thought they weren't.

According to a new report by the Associated Press, most Google users thought that by turning off Location History in your settings, you were not letting Google track you. But in fact, doing so only stopped them from adding you to its Google Maps Timeline. They were still collecting data from Android and IOS users unless you turn off another, well-hidden setting. Let's walk our way through it.

First, head to the Activity Controls Dashboard and turn OFF Web and App Activity. Yes, Google will flash a warning asking you really want to do that, just hit pause to confirm.

Ryan Brainard
Ryan Brainard
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Next, go back into the Activity Controls dashboard and toggle off Location History. Yes, even if you think you did this before, do it again. If you also want to delete your location history on Google Timeline, go to Manage Activity and click the bin in the bottom right corner.

Ryan Brainard
Ryan Brainard
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So there you have it. The REAL way to make sure Google isn't tracking you. I'll admit for me personally, it's not that big of a deal. I'm not doing anything that is going to shock Google or anyone else. But if you value your privacy, this should help you get a bit of it back.

 

[via Wired]

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