Google says it will auto-delete location and search data by default for new users after 18 months, as part of a broader expansion of its privacy options
A compromise between privacy and ad-targeting data — On Wednesday, Google announced broad changes in its default data practices for new users …
What changes today is the default: new accounts get the 18-month limit automatically, converting a manual privacy control into a baseline. The Verge frames it as a compromise because the deleted history is exactly the long-tail behavioral data that powers ad targeting.
First-order effects
New Google users start with location and search history expiring after 18 months unless they intervene, while existing users' retention settings are unchanged.
Google's ads business loses a slice of fresh-user behavioral depth by construction — the trade-off is baked into signup rather than left to user diligence.
Second-order effects
Rivals with default-forever retention face a widening optics gap on privacy defaults, pressuring them to adopt similar expiry baselines rather than rely on buried controls.
Advertisers buying against Google's behavioral profiles see thinner long-tail histories from new cohorts, nudging measurement toward shorter-window signals.
Third-order effects
If the sequence holds — opt-in tools in 2019, default expiry today, then Google's later plan to scrub visits to abortion clinics, shelters, and weight-loss centers from histories — retention policy shifts from user configuration to platform-set norms shaped by regulatory and political exposure.
The endgame is retention-as-product: data lifetimes becoming a marketed feature and a compliance baseline, not just an activity-log setting.
The trend: Consumer data retention is moving from user-managed opt-ins to platform-enforced defaults, with deletion windows set first by competition and increasingly by regulatory risk around sensitive categories.
Privacy is at the heart of everything we do, and we'll keep challenging ourselves to do more with less. As a next step, today we're changing our data retention practices to make auto-delete the default for our core activity settings. https://www.blog.google/...
It's good to see Google trying to catch up on privacy. This is small, but it might be the first step that isn't useless (privacy settings!) or some distant state (Chrome)? Killing Ad IDs or ceasing to force themselves as third-party data controllers would signify more, though. ht…
So Google's new auto-delete settings are interesting, but does anyone in Privacyland get the logic behind 18 months? What sort of location personalization needs 18 months of location history, @hollasarahd? https://www.blog.google/...
That's exactly what Google was also saying when they bought DoubleClick. And then reportedly changed their Privacy Policy to merge the data. We should not let history repeat itself. Not this time and #NotOnOurWatch Sign our petition: https://action.privacyinternational.org / ... …
Newly formed Google accounts will now auto-delete activity and location every 18 months by default. YouTube history will delete every 36 months. Existing accounts, though, will still need to proactively turn on the feature. https://www.wired.com/...
Of course, the opposite is true. Google made more than $100 billion from exploiting personal information in 2019. Stating that “privacy is at the heart of everything we do” is a barefaced lie. Tr*mpism, but with a friendly face. https://twitter.com/...
A bunch of new privacy updates from Google today, including default auto-delete of location and browsing data after 18 months; Password Checkup being folded into Security Checkup (no more Chrome extension); and easier access to Incognito Mode on mobile. https://www.blog.google/..…
Translation: “If you are one of the <1% of people who has never created a Google account in the 22 years we've existed, and you decide for some reason to create a new account now, you'll be automatically opted into a default setting which protects your privacy.” https://twitter.c…
If Google holding on to your location data for a year and a half doesn't sound like a privacy win, that's because it's not. Instead, let's adopt my new privacy proposal that completely rewrites the rules of how corporations can collect your data. 👇 https://www.banking.senate.gov/…
🔒💪Our privacy and security controls are now easier to access and more proactive in protecting your data. Over the next few tweets we're announcing new updates about how we keep your private information private. Learn more →https://blog.google/...
Apple: All your data stays on your device. Google: We'll delete some of the data we store about you on our servers after 18 months. https://twitter.com/...
I'm glad this is happening, but I also suspect that Google can do more with your data in the period it keeps it than most people realize. https://twitter.com/...
Google changing privacy defaults seems like a big deal. (Even if it's just for new accounts, and not the BILLIONS OF EXISTING ONES.) Also, the new magic number for how long they'll store your data is 18 months, which I find sorta fascinating https://www.protocol.com/...
Here's why Google said it picked 18 months by default, and lets you switch to 3 months. It'll be interesting to see if others land on the same number — especially if they all decide your old data is useless anyway https://twitter.com/...
This is good although also feels like Google is setting the point of auto-deletion at the moment it has comfortably extracted 99 percent of the value of the data https://twitter.com/...