Even if “Location History” is turned off, Google usually stores your specified location.
Here’s how to remove them and some best practices to keep your site as private as possible.
But it’s not a panacea, because simply connecting to the Internet on any device blocks your IP address, which can be geo-tagged.
Smartphones also connect to cell phone towers, so your carrier knows your general location at all times.
To disable any tracking device
Launch your browser and go to myactivity.google.com. You will need to sign in to Google.
In the top left drop down menu, go to “Activity Control”. Turn off “Web & App Activity” and “Location History.”
That prevents the marketing site from being stored in the email account.
Google will warn you that some of its services may not work with this setting turned off.
Specifically, neither the Google Assistant, the digital concierge, nor the Google Home smart speaker will be particularly useful.
on iOS *
If you use Google Maps, please use your location setting as ‘when using’ the app. This will prevent the app from accessing your location when it is not active.
Go to Privacy Services Location Options and from there select Enable Google Maps.
In the Safari web browser, search for the device you’re considering using Google.
Under Safari’s Search Engine Options, you can find other options like Bing or DuckDuckGo.
You can disable location while browsing by going to Privacy Options Location Services Safari Websites and change this to ‘Never’.
This still won’t stop advertisers from knowing your approximate location based on your IP address on any website.
You can also disable Location Services on your device almost completely from the Location Services Privacy Settings.
Both Google Maps and Apple Maps still work, but they won’t know where you are on the map and won’t be able to give you directions.
You will still be able to find emergency services if needed.
An Android
Under the main settings icon, click on ‘Security & location’. Scroll down to the “Privacy” heading. Press “Location”. You can disable this entire device.
Use ‘App Level Permissions’ to disable access to various apps.
Unlike the iPhone, it is not while in use.
You can’t turn off Google Play Services, which provide your location to other apps if you leave that service turned on.
Sign in as a ‘guest’ on your Android device by scrolling down from the top and clicking the cursor, again on the torso icon.
Whose services you write, such as Chrome. You can also search engines in Chrome.
To remove a previous location on any tracking device
On the myactivity.google.com page, look for the entry that has a pin icon next to the word ‘personal’.
Clicking on that leads to a window that includes a link that sometimes says “From your site”.
Clicking on it will open Google Maps, which will show where you were at that time.
You can remove it from this list by clicking on the navigation icon with three dots and then ‘Remove’.
Some things will be placed in unexpected places, such as theme names, google.com, search, or maps.
No element for an element. You can delete all items in groups or by service, but you will end up deleting more than just the location.
