Google’s Auto Delete Is Now A Default Setting And Covers YouTube History

In a bid to increase privacy, Google has made its 'auto-delete' function default and extended it cover Youtube history.

Representational Image (Getty)

New Delhi: Google updated his privacy setting options for users and made auto-delete function a default for several activities. Users can now choose to delete their YouTube history in Google, just like location history and web activity. Google has released the same  'auto-delete in 18 months' tool for YouTube history. The setting was introduced lin 2019 for web and app activity. Users, however, do have the option to disable this setting or modify the auto-delete option. Sudar Pichai CEO of Google wrote in a Google blog introducing this feature, “As always, we don’t sell your information to anyone, and we don’t use information in apps where you primarily store personal content—such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar and Photos—for advertising purposes, period.” When you switch on your Location History, which is off by default, the auto-delete will be set to 18 months by default. Similarly, Web & App Activity, 18 months auto-delete for new accounts will also be activated. A user’s data will be automatically and continuously deleted after 18 months. This is unlike before when the information will not be kept until the user chooses to delete it. However, a user can always turn these settings off or change the auto-delete option. But, if a user’s Location History and Web & App Activity turned on, Goggle is not going to change the existing settings but would rather remind the user about the auto-delete features and let them choose the setting of their choice. For YouTube, auto-delete will be set to 36 months by default for new users or for the ones who turn on YouTube History for the first time. According to Google, 'it improves upon current industry practice while ensuring YouTube makes relevant entertainment recommendations.' Google is also making Incognito mode easier to access across various apps, like Maps and YouTube which a user can access by long-pressing the profile picture in 'Search'. This feature is, however, only available for iOS but will be soon released for Android & other apps. These features are meant to protect people’s privacy while being on the internet. The question of privacy came under light after the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal where it was found that personal data of Facebook users was harvested without their consent by Cambridge Analytica and was used for political advertising.