Google Privacy Policy Change: How to Remove Google Web History Before March 1 Deadline

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As you already know if you’re a Google services user, Google will consolidate all its privacy policies, more than 60 of them, into a single document starting with March 1. Google has already been sued in the U.S. for this initiative and it’s facing an investigation from European regulators, but that doesn’t mean the company will change its mind.

The purpose of the proposed privacy policy change? Providing a better experience for end-users, which translates into better search results and ads tailored specifically to one’s needs. While that sounds good for some people, and while the fact that Google makes lots of cash from advertising does enable it to let users enjoy all its web services free of charge, that doesn’t mean that all of us will necessarily like the new privacy policy changes.

Those of you that want to delete the web history of your Google accounts before March 1 can do so right now in a few simple steps, as described by the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

1. Sign into your Google account.
2. Go to https://www.google.com/history
3. Click “remove all Web History.”
4. Click “ok.”

Rinse and repeat for all the Google accounts you’re currently using and you’ll be home free. Or will you? While you will remove all web history and prevent Google from keeping tabs on you in the future, the information that has already been gathered by the company will remain in its coffers for a while longer. In case you decide to remove all web history then Google will retain your data for 18 months when it will be partially anonymized “and certain kinds of uses, including sending you customized search results, will be prevented.”

In case you don’t remove your web history, or if you enable at any point later on and leave it enabled, Google will keep your records indefinitely and offer you tailored results based on the way you use the web.

What do you guys think about Google’s upcoming privacy policy change?