Google, a Mountain View-based search engine giant, has introduced new privacy features to provide additional protection for Google’s search history. One of the new privacy features is the ability to delete the last 15 minute of your search history on mobile. According to a Google blog post these features are especially important for people who share a device and want others to be unable to access their search history. Although the new feature is currently only available to iOS users, Google claims that it will soon be available to Android users.
Google’s new features also allow users to add extra protection to their search history. Users can choose to have “My Activity” added as verification when they sign in from a Google Account. This will require additional information before they can view their full search history. This extra information is a verification check. It could be the user’s Google password, or two-factor authentication. Users can also request that Google remove their search history and other activity from the web or apps after three, 18 or 36 months. This default setting is 18 months, but you can change it in the settings.
The most popular feature is the ability to delete 15 minutes of search history in one click. This feature is currently only available for iOS users. It will be made available for Android users in the latter part of this year. To enable quick delete, users will need to access their Google Account Menu > Tap the profile/avatar icon/profile picture. Users will now see the “Delete last 15 mins” quick delete option. To delete the last 15 minutes from your Google Search History, tap the button. Users can also voice-command Google Assistant to delete all the information they have asked it.
