Google Home Privacy Settings You Should Review – BGR

If you use smart devices to manage your routine, control your lights, play music, find TV shows, or buy things online, you may also want to consider what information you’re sharing. Companies like Google may use your searches to show you more personalized results across YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Ads. To better control your privacy, there are some settings you should check out.Google offers a range of services that millions use each day to find answers, enjoy content, and potentially discover something new. Each time you use one of these platforms, such as Google Home, you share your data with Google. What data Google collects depends on what you provide. However, it can include your name and password, phone number, payment information, and even what you say. To protect this data, you can set your voice recordings to delete automatically and turn off web activity, location, and search history in your privacy settings.It is worth noting that turning off certain settings may render some smart devices unusable, as they require specific privacy and data configurations to run. However, turning some Google account features off means you won’t give as much personal data to Google when you use its services and products.Google Home allows you to speak to the device. As you do, the system keeps voice recordings and uses them to personalize your experience by showing you ads or content it believes you’ll enjoy or find useful. You can opt in and out of whether or not your voice statements are recorded, however, and can even delete previous Google Home voice recordings if you so choose.To opt in or out of voice recordings on Google Home, head to your Google Account. Go to Data & Privacy, select History settings, then Web & App Activity. Under that section, you should see an option to include voice and audio activity and a checkbox. Check or uncheck the box to choose your preferred setting. To automatically delete your recordings, go to Privacy & Security > History settings > Web & App Activity, then click the Google Assistant icon to find Auto-delete.If you want your Google Home to stop tracking your location, you’ll need to turn off location settings on your smartphone. The device uses your phone to track when it connects to your Wi-Fi. Once it reestablishes a connection, it can use that data to turn on lights and other settings. You can turn off location on your phone, but that may disable routines. If you want your home more secure, you may want to leave it on.Web & App Activity is the feature that saves all of your digital activity on Google and its services and platforms. It’s a Google Home privacy setting you can turn off, which prevents Google from using your searches to provide recommendations or your location to show what is nearby. To turn off Web & App Activity, go to your Google account’s Web & App Activity section and turn the feature off.Google Home can track your search history, but you can disable it in the privacy settings by turning off Web & App Activity. This stops the Google Home app from suggesting items it thinks you may be interested in. It may also make Google Home’s responses less helpful, since it won’t know your previous questions.As you talk with Google Home and ask it questions, there are a few things you should never ask. If you feel you’ve said anything to it you shouldn’t have, or want to feel more secure about your information, you can turn off privacy and data features as needed.source