Google has been tracking people's purchases as well as their location using Gmail, which some people may find helpful and some may not.
Luckily, there are ways to prevent Google from tracking such activities.
Gmail Purchase Tracking
Since verification emails are delivered to every Gmail account, Google keeps a record of all of our online purchases, per Cnet.
In addition to this, CNBC added that Google stores years of information about transactions a person has made, even outside Google, and takes such data from their Gmail account. However, the American multinational technology company also claimed that the gathered information is not used for ads.
Even though it is not utilized for advertising, there is no compelling reason for Google to keep a record of years of transactions and make it more difficult to remove it.
For those people who like to have a copy of their purchases, they may find the Gmail purchase tracking as an advantage, but some consider this as an invasion of privacy. Luckily, Cnet shared several ways for people to manage, delete and know what is being tracked.
- Gmail allows Google to track a variety of email kinds, such as purchases, payments, subscription services, and reservations, such as for hotels, vehicles, and airline tickets. To manage and view the stated email kinds, Gmail users must head to this link.
- After proceeding to the link, users should choose the "Payments and subscription" option located on the left side of the screen.
- Once Payments and Subscription was selected, Gmail users can select each grouping by clicking on it. The said grouping includes reservations, purchases, payment methods, YouTube or Google Photos membership, Google Music payment, or apps purchased from the Google Play store and more.
- If users want to erase anything they do not want to be retained in their Gmail account, they should click into each item and tap "Remove reservation," "Remover purchase," and so on.
Aside from purchase tracking, it is worth noting that Google is also capable of location tracking.
How to Disable Gmail Location Tracking
According to Google, the Google Privacy Policy explains how Google handles information, such as location information, when using Google's products and services. Its mission is to provide helpful and meaningful experiences, and location data is a key component of it.
Location can make the Google experiences more relevant and helpful in a variety of ways, from providing driving directions to ensuring that the search results include items near a person's location.
Despite how helpful location tracking is, some people still find it disturbing. Fortunately, Cnet has shared a step-by-step process on how to disable the location tracking in Google Maps.
- Android users must head to the "Settings" app then tap the "Google" option.
- From the Google option, choose the "Google account" option.
- After tapping the Google Account option, head to the "Data and personalization" settings.
- From there, look for "Location history."
- Once Location History was found, head to "Manage Timeline" in which users will then proceed to the "Google Maps" app.
- In the Google Maps app, tap the three dots then select the "Settings" option and delete the location history.
