3 upcoming Google features aimed at making internet safer for you

Google is also providing more options to users to handle their data and privacy settings by offering the option of controlling privacy options on Google Assistant through voice commands.

As the privacy issues and vulnerabilities that the world wide web presents come to the fore, tech giants are being held accountable for their policies. Last year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to sit in front of a committee and explain how the social media platform handles users’ data. Facebook was also fined $5 billion for violating consumers’ privacy. Google has also come under the scanner of the European Union (EU) regulators and was slapped with a $5 billion fine for breaching anti-trust laws.

With an aim to help users control their privacy online and secure their data, Google has released a series of updates. The search engine has added features across its various products, including Google Maps, YouTube and Google Assistant.

Incognito mode in Google Maps

Google has said that it will be rolling out a new feature which will allow users to use Google Maps in I=incognito mode. This mode will allow users to keep their activity hidden such as the location or the places they search for, etc. This data will not be used to personalise their Maps experience. A user can switch on or switch off the incognito mode at any time. The new feature will be launched on Android in the coming weeks, and will be rolled out for iOS later.

Auto-delete feature on Youtube

The search engine giant has also rolled out an auto-delete feature to YouTube history. A user can set a time when their YouTube history would be automatically deleted. The user will have the option of choosing between three months, 18 months or not deleting their history on YouTube.

Control privacy settings through voice assistant

Google is also simplifying privacy settings and will now allow users to delete their data using voice commands. The feature would be rolled out in the coming weeks and would allow users to make commands like “Hey Google, delete the last thing I asked you” or “Hey Google, delete everything I said to you this week.”

It is to be noted that the user would not be required to turn on any of the aforementioned features as they will work automatically. If a user wishes to delete more than a month’s worth of data from their account, the assistant will direct the user to the account settings page to complete the process. Google will be launching this feature in English soon and in other languages by November. Users can also learn about how Google is keeping their data private and secure by asking the assistant, “Hey Google, how do you keep my data safe?”