Do you have Google anything installed on your phone? Computer? Tablet? If so, chances are Google knows – and records – everywhere you have been!
Google will save this data if you have these two settings turned on:
- Location Reporting
- Location history
Now your thinking, if I have the option to turn this on or off why would it even be on? There are many things Google uses (and collects) this data for. Ever searched for a pizza place like “Papa Johns” and Google somehow magically showed the results for your location rather than some random place in the world? Google uses your location data to narrow down the results.
Maybe you use Google Now. Google now HIGHLY integrates with your location data. In fact, every so many minutes, it scans for your location and reports it so you can get interesting cards on your Google Now interface.
Google offers step by step instructions on how to remove all your location history and how to turn it off. You can find the instructions to turn off Location History by clicking HERE.
Now comes the fun part – you can actually see where all Google knows you have been by ensureing you are logged in to your main Google account, and clicking the following address:
https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0
Here are a couple example screenshots (click to enlarge):
So you decide, is it worth leaving this on for the cool features that Google offers? I love the features of Google Now, but it is a little scary to see just how often Google tracks your location for this feature.