Google keeps record of everywhere you’ve been – but reveals tool to automatically delete data

Company says that tracking you everywhere you go can be useful – but now data can be deleted when it's no longer needed

Google is making it easier for people to delete the highly precise location and web activity data it tracks about its users.

The search giant has tools that watch people as they make their way around not just the internet but the real world, keeping very detailed logs of everywhere people have been and what they have looked at on the internet.

Now it has introduced a new tool that will let people delete that data after a certain amount of time.

Google has long offered the option to turn off the data gathering, and the new tool is an extension of that. But it says that data is useful to keep, and that the new tool will ensure it still proves useful but is kept no longer than required.

"Whether you're looking for the latest news or the quickest driving route, we aim to make our products helpful for everyone," Google said.

"And when you turn on settings like location history or web & app activity, the data can make Google products more useful for you - like recommending a restaurant that you might enjoy, or helping you pick up where you left off on a previous search.

"We work to keep your data private and secure, and we've heard your feedback that we need to provide simpler ways for you to manage or delete it."

Under the new procedure, users will be asked to choose a time limit they want to keep their activity data - either three or 18 months - and any data older than that will be deleted automatically on an ongoing basis.

Google confirmed the tool will be rolled out in the "coming weeks".

The company does already offer some tools to decide what data is being kept about your location, which can be found here.

Social media and internet companies have come under increasing pressure in the last year to give users more control over their data and to improve their own privacy controls.

The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU last year gave more powers to users to control how firms use their data, while a number of high-profile data breaches and scandals involving the likes of Facebook have increased scrutiny on the industry.

Additional reporting by agencies