I had no idea how much Google Maps was tracking me until I found these settings

Among all navigation apps, Google Maps stands right at the top. With its familiar interface and ease of use, Google Maps is so popular that it is available on almost all phones. However, Google is notorious for tracking all sorts of users’ personal details. Recently, poking into the app, I discovered that it was doing a lot more than just getting me from point A to B. Google Maps was tracking my whereabouts in minute-to-minute updates. It knew exactly where I went yesterday and even remembered my old daily commutes.

While this may not look like much, it also meant keeping tabs on the quick stops I made to grab groceries on the way home. Realizing that a single app knows so much about me and has a record of my movements, I decided to take my privacy into my own hands and tweaked a few settings to stop Google from tracking me.

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Stop the constant logging

The timeline is like a scrapbook of everywhere you’ve been

One of the most revealing features of Google Maps is the Timeline. It tracks your location throughout the day to show you a history of places you’ve been. You can use it to revisit the places you visited on your last vacation. But this also means that your phone is constantly pinging your location to Google’s servers.

Here is how to disable the Google Maps timeline:

1. Launch the Google Maps app and tap on your profile picture.
2. Select Settings.
3. Tap on Location & Privacy.
4. Under the Timeline section, select the Timeline option. Choose your account. This will take you to your Google Account’s Activity Control page.
5. Scroll down and under Timeline, tap on the Turn off and delete activity button.
6. In the message that appears, scroll down and tap on Next.
7. Finally, tap on Delete.

This ensures that Google Maps isn’t keeping a track of all the places that you have visited in the past.

Keep your searches private

You don’t need to reveal what you are searching for

Even if you turn off the timeline, Google Maps notes down every place that you have searched for. Going through my activity, I could see all of my queries for restaurants, grocery stores, and even random shops over the last few months. This data is tied to your Google account under the Web & App Activity.

You can disable the search history by following the steps below:

1. In Google Maps, tap on your profile picture and select Settings.
2. Tap on Location & privacy.
3. Select Web & App Activity.

Here, you can choose to turn off your searches or turn off the and delete option that deletes your past searches as well.

Get rid of your history and past trips

Old navigation data may be worthless to you, but it matters to Google

Preventing Google from tracking your future data is good, but it doesn’t erase the years of data that have already been collected. Since I have been using Google Maps for years, all of my old navigation data, saved trips, etc., are available in my account.

To wipe the slate clean, here’s what you need to do:

1. Tap your profile picture, then select Settings.
2. Tap on Location & privacy.
3. Select Maps history.
4. Tap on the Delete drop-down button.
5. You can choose to delete an activity from today, a custom time range, or delete all of your history.

Once done, everything, such as your searched places, saved routes, visited places, etc., will be removed from your account. Do note that this also makes them unrecoverable.

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Live location is a big no

You might’ve completely forgotten about it

Location sharing makes Google Maps so much more useful, letting you share your live location with a friend when they are trying to locate you in a crowded space. However, when I checked my settings, I was surprised to find out that I was still sharing my live location with a bunch of my contacts from months ago. Not a good thing if privacy matters to you.

Here’s how to disable it:

1. Tap your profile picture, then select Settings.
2. Select Location & privacy.
3. Tap on Location sharing.
4. Here you will see a list of contacts who currently have access to your live location.
5. Tap the contact’s name, then select Stop to revoke live location access immediately.

When you stop sharing your live location with a contact, they cannot see where you are, and they are also not notified about the same.

Restrict background tracking

For this, your smartphone is the culprit

Last but not least, you need to check your phone’s system settings. Apps often ask for a bunch of permissions, and amidst that, you might have permitted Google Maps to track you all the time. Background tracking allows the app to see where you are, even if you aren’t actively using it. Here’s how to fix this:

1. Open your phone’s Settings menu.
2. Head over to Apps and choose Maps.
3. Tap on Permissions and select Location.
4. Change the setting from Allow all the time to Allow only while using the app.

After you have tweaked the settings, Google Maps won’t be accessing your location till the time you open and start using the app. Disabling background tracking also helps save battery.

It just takes a few minutes to raise a privacy wall

Changing these settings only takes a few minutes, but it affects how Google tracks your information. You will no longer be logged in every step of the way, and your data won’t be saved on a server somewhere you don’t know. While Google Maps is useful, given its tracking habits, you should consider a privacy-focused navigation app. Setting a boundary ensures you can reach your destination safely without sharing your information with anyone.