Google Maps announced today that it’s introducing some new ways to give users more control over their personal information. The navigation app makes it possible to delete activity related to specific places and makes it easy to access location controls directly from the blue dot in the app.
The company says users will soon be able to see their recent activity related to specific places to easily delete their searches, directions, visits and shares with a few taps. Let’s say you’re going to a bakery and use the app to navigate there. Soon, you’ll be able to view your recent activity related to the bakery to delete it all.
As for the blue dot that shows you where you are on Google Maps, you’ll soon be able to use it to access location controls. Once you click on it, you’ll be able to see if Location History or Timeline, a feature in Maps that helps you remember places you’ve visited, settings are turned on and if you’ve given Maps access to your device’s location.
The ability to delete activity related to places from Maps and the new blue dot controls will start rolling out to Android and iOS in the coming weeks, Google says.
Google Maps also announced that if you’ve chosen to enable Location History, your time will soon be saved directly to your device.
Image Credits: Google
“As before, you can delete all or part of your information at any time, or disable the setting entirely,” Google Map Product Manager Marlo McGriff wrote in a blog post. “If you’re getting a new phone or worried about losing your existing one, you can always choose to back up your data to the cloud so it’s not lost. We’ll automatically encrypt the data you’ve backed up so no one can read it, including Google.”
Additionally, now that you first enable Location History, the auto-delete check will be set to three months by default. This option was previously set at 18 months.
These changes will roll out gradually over the next year to Android and iOS, Google says. Users will receive a notification when this update comes to their account.
