When Location History is on, your precise location is tracked and saved to your phone and to Google’s servers, even if you are not currently using a Google app. — AFP
A reader passed along an email from Google and asked me to explain the meaning.
The message said, “Location History is paused for your account and you haven’t added any new locations to your Timeline in more than 1 year.
Any existing Location History data you have in your Google Account will be deleted, starting on September 1, 2023.
If you’d like to keep this data before it’s deleted, you have two options:
— Turn on Location History in Activity controls. This will keep your data in your Google Account.
— Download a copy of this data."
The email explains that at one time, this reader had turned on Location History in their Google account, and then apparently turned it off at least a year ago.
Google is notifying the reader that their data will be purged in September, and that if they’d like to download a copy, it explains how to do so.
According to Google, the Location History is a setting that creates a “personal map” that helps you remember places you go, routes to destinations and trips you take.
In other words, it tracks your whereabouts by the location of your phone.
When Location History is on, your precise location is tracked and saved to your phone and to Google’s servers, even if you are not currently using a Google app.
Google says they use your information to help give personalised experiences across Google based on where you go.
Google Location History is off by default, and Google can only see your location information if you turn it on.
I used to have my Location History turned on, and it did provide features like popping up a notification to tell me how long my commute would take each morning and evening.
You can also see an example of this data if you view a business page in Google Maps and see a graph of when the business is most busy.
I decided I didn’t want Google storing (and selling) all this information about me, so I turned Location History off back in 2019.
If you’d like to check your settings and perhaps manually delete the data, go to the Location History section of your Google account.
You can read more about how to find and manage your Location History here. – Tribune News Service
