A new Your data in Search option is being added to the sidebar in Search and a similar feature will be rolled out to Maps and other Google services in 2019.
Google is bringing some new changes to Search that will help a user keep better track of their data and delete it when needed. We already know that Google keeps track of almost everything a user does online. For those unaware, head over to https://myactivity.google.com to be surprised (or scared). Anyhow, to manage data collected by Google, one previously had to visit their Google account, which is a tedious ordeal when one wants to search for data specific to a particular Google service. Keeping this in mind, the company will now integrate some data management tools directly in Search so that a user can easily access and manage their Search data collected by the company.
Starting today, there will now be a new option in the Hamburg icon on the upper left corner called ‘Your data in Search.’ Here, a user can directly access, review and if needed, delete search activity "and quickly get back to finding what you were searching for.” The new feature will be available in Google Search on desktop and mobile web, and in the Google app for iOS and Android in the coming weeks. The company will be implementing a similar feature in Maps and other Google products next year. This new feature can be looked at as a shortcut for finding the data Google has on a user while using the service itself.
“We’re also providing quick access to the privacy controls in your Google Account that are most relevant as you use Search. For example, to control the ads you see when you search, we give you access to your Ad Settings,” Google states in its blog post. The new changes come amidst growing concern of data leaks where no one can be absolutely sure that their data is in safe hands.
In a recent study conducted by Oxford University, researchers found that more than 88 percent apps of the 959,000 apps analysed on the Google Play Store in US and UK are sending users' personal data of back to Alphabet, Google's parent company and around 40 percent of these apps send data to Facebook as well. As per the report, app developers embed third-party trackers directly into an app’s source code that is near impossible for any normal user to find out. These trackers send their data to companies and that is most probably why most of us see that one ad for a product searched online, across apps. You can read more about this here.
Additionally, another previous investigation revealed that Google collects its users' location data on iPhones and Android devices even when the privacy setting to allow this is turned off. The research was done by the Associated Press and verified by computer science researchers at Princeton University. You can read more about this in detail here.
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Shubham Sharma
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