How to find out what Google knows about you

 PHOTO: Google

 

The techno­logy we use on a daily basis has our every move record­ed ou may have come to accept that the technology we interact with on a daily basis has our every move recorded.

Your smartphone knows everywhere you’ve been, Google Maps is always up to date with your location and Facebook has built a detailed character profile of all its users.

However, if you’re one who wishes not to live in oblivion and find out exactly what Google knows about you, your interests and the places you’ve visited and your search habits, here’s how you can find out. Follow the steps below, and you can see just how much Google knows about you

1. Go to history.google.com/history

2. Log into your Google account
Google only saves the searches you have made while logged into an unrestricted Google account. It may not have every search you’ve ever made, however, it will give you a pretty accurate overview of your browsing habits.

3. Select the down arrow next to “last week” and change it to “all time”

 
4. Browse your more recent search history by selecting “last month” and “last year”


 
5. Delete your browsing data


It gives you the immediate option to delete data from “Today” and “Yesterday”. You can delete the search data Google has recorded for you by clicking the three dots on the top right hand side of the window and selecting “Delete options”.
 
If you click “advanced” it then lets you delete information from the last four weeks or “all time”.
6. Google has been mapping you


If you click the three dots in the top right hand corner of the window and select “settings” then “show more controls” you can “manage activity” under the “places you go” tab. If you have location services turned on it will show you a map of all of the places where you have used your mobile device.
7. See how old Google thinks you are

If you scroll to the bottom of the “activity controls” page and select “ads”, you will see the profile Google has for you, which includes a rough age range, your gender, and your interests. You can change it to make it more (or less) accurate, if you don’t agree with the profile Google has created for you, which in turn will affect the adverts you’ll see across alphabet products.

This article originally appeared on Telegraph