Kim Komando
Special to USA TODAY
Big Tech companies are woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. We message each other on our Apple and Android smartphones, share photos on Facebook, shop on Amazon, work on our Microsoft and Apple computers, and Google things all day long.
If you’re super privacy-conscious, maybe you’re ready to nuke your private info floating around the web – or as much as you can, at least. Tap or click to erase yourself from the internet.
Let’s look at a company I bet you interact with most days, Google. Here are three settings you need to check:
When the full side menu is open, click on
Your Timeline.
This will bring up a complete map of where you have been and the number of places you checked into.
Data of places you visited can also be recalled by opening the side menu, clicking on
Your Places, and then clicking
Visited.
As Google explains on its website, Location History âsaves where you go with your devices, even when you arenât using a specific Google service.â Gee, thanks.
RELATED:
How to turn it off
It is creepy that Google can track your movements without you even realizing it. Here is how you can turn it off using a PC:
Mobile devices can make people vulnerable to online piracy through privacy settings, Bydgoszcz, Poland, on August 7, 2016. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Google Maps makes navigating unfamiliar cities frustration-free and straightforward. It has an innovative feature that you’re probably not taking full advantage of, Street View. Sure it’s great for looking at your childhood home. But, you can use it for things like creating your own stories and even going indoors.
Street View can be especially handy when you are looking at real estate. The timeline feature shows you what a home or commercial building looked like last month or many years ago.