We’ve all heard that companies like Google collect a bunch of data on the things we do online, but it can be eye-opening to find out exactly what type of data is actually being collected. It’s rare for a company to be so open about the information they collect. Google is one of the few who does this. Surprising to most, everyone with a Google account can go to myaccount.google.com and not only see what data is being collected, but also delete a lot of the data that has already been collected. Today, the company has announced an improved user experience for the Google Account page with an improved design, additional security options, and more.
Google is the leader of online search so it makes sense that a popular new addition here is the ability to search to find the settings and other information that you’re looking for. This way, instead of navigating through all of the menu options, you can simply search for the word “password” and be shown all of the options relating to the term password (which would be your account password and saved passwords in this example). The user interface of the new design comes with tabs to help keep things organized and one of the primary tabs here is for data and personalization.
This is where you’ll find all of the controls for each different type of activity data that Google collects on people. It has been organized so you can instantly view data for things like your YouTube watch history, your voice and audio activity, location history, and more. This is also a place where you’ll find the recently updated Privacy Checkup tool which can help you quickly review your current privacy settings. Google has also begun using this new account portal as a place to show you prominent notices about things they think you may need to know about.
This can be anything from removing your account from an old device to removing unverified applications that currently have access to your account data. The new Google Account page is available today for Android users and will come to iOS and the web later this year.