Tired of Google following you? It is now easier to clear location data

It is now slightly easier to opt out of Google's panopticon, with the introduction of new controls from the search engine to automatically clear your data after a set period of time. By default, Google saves a permanent history of everything a user has searched for, every website they have visited, activity from any other app, site or device that uses Google services, and a record of their physical movements gleaned from using Google Maps or an Android device. Users have always been able to turn off – or "pause" – that tracking in a settings page, Activity Controls, and, if they remember to, they can manually clear the saved information using the Delete Activity page. But both those options have downsides: if tracking is turned off entirely, some Google products and services no longer work, while deleting activity manually can be a chore, particularly for users with more than one Google account. In May, the company launched the ability to delete saved information automatically after a fixed period of time (three or 18 months are the only options).