How To Remove Your Google Web History

8 responses to “How To Remove Your Google Web History”

1. 

   Tom

   February 23, 2012

   “Go to https://google.com/history. Click “remove all Web History” and “OK”. Doing so will pause the recording of your searches going forward until you enable it again”

   Clicking that link just takes me to the main google page (and yes, I’m logged in to my account).

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2. 

   poltak

   February 23, 2012

   Link took me to the Google front page also. Try signing in and going to
   https://www.google.com/dashboard/b/0/
   All your unified Google settings should be there, including search history settings about half way down.

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3. 

   StephenF

   February 23, 2012

   Hi – I just enter google.com/history and it seems to work, i think it adds the secure layer https when you are logged/logging in.

   Also I need to press delete web history twice for it to delete web traces. cheers

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4. 

   Max

   February 23, 2012

   I guess I must be one of the few who *likes* Google Web History. It’s convenient for trying to find a web site again a year or so after you originally found it. I just go incognito if I want to search anything particularly sensitive.

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5. 

   Pensky

   February 23, 2012

   If you look at their help here : http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=54067&topic=14150&ctx=topic

   It tells you how to remove your search history but the bottom line states: “However, as is common practice in the industry, and as outlined in the Google Privacy Policy, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users.”

   Sounds like they’re going to record your history no matter what you do.

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   1. 

      StephenF

      February 23, 2012

      Yes – it sound like they do.

      Also from google;
      “Why are search engine logs kept before being anonymized?

      We strike a reasonable balance between the competing pressures we face, such as the privacy of our users, the security of our systems and the need for innovation. We believe anonymizing IP addresses after 9 months and cookies in our search engine logs after 18 months strikes the right balance.”
      end quote sourced from – http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/faq/#toc-terms-server-logs

      There are a few unknowns for me: 1. Will this policy change soon ? 2. If any other company shares/buys this web browser info collected by google.

      I guess I vainly cling to a diminishing hope of internet privacy, a hope perhaps already long gone 🙂

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6. 

   Kit

   February 23, 2012

   What about not logging in to Google in the first place??

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7. 

   Samuel of Kadina

   February 23, 2012

   Oxymoron – Internet Privacy…. Most kids think its OK one they empty their browser history once finished will keep it private.

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