How to Stop Google from Collecting and Selling Your Personal Data: Top Data Privacy Tips

Google is, without a doubt, a monopoly. The fact that it comes pre-installed as the default search engine on countless phones is just one example. If you need more evidence, in 2024, a Federal Court officially found Google guilty of monopolistic practices. But Google’s dominance in internet searches isn’t just about convenience—it’s about control. The company uses its position to collect staggering amounts of personal information from its users.

While many of us have grown desensitized to the loss of privacy—posting our lives on social media for strangers to admire, for example—there’s something uniquely unsettling about Google profiting from our personal data. Sure, the details of my life stored in their data warehouses may not be thrilling, but if anyone’s going to make money off my information, it should be me—not Google!

Now, Google insists they don’t sell your personal information directly, which is technically true. But they still profit from it in a roundabout way. Every piece of your data they collect is tied to a unique identifier, allowing corporations to purchase your information and to target you with ads through Google’s advertising network. This is why, after one quick search, you’re bombarded with ads for the same product across YouTube and other platforms for weeks. It’s indirect, but the result is the same—Google turns your private data into profit.

The reality is, as long as you use Google services—Search, Maps, YouTube, or even Google Fit—you can’t entirely stop them from collecting your data. However, you can take steps to limit the information they access and ensure it’s not tied to your unique identifier. Here are the top tips to help you regain some control over your online privacy and stop Google from profiting from your personal information.

What Information Does Google Collect?

A better question might be: What information doesn’t Google collect?

The data Google gathers is detailed in its Privacy Policy—a document that is long, unnecessarily complex, and conveniently vague. It’s written in that trademark style shared by corporations, Republican politicians, and even 19th-century Romantic authors: verbose, circuitous, and ultimately devoid of meaning. In other words, it’s like Trump when he strings together a lot of words that essentially say nothing (think “concepts of a plan”). The irony? Google claims to be a proponent of data ethics where transparency is one of the core principles. Yet, there’s nothing transparent about its Privacy Policy.

Fortunately, I’ve read through it—and below is a straightforward summary of what Google is actually collecting.

Personal Information: The Basics

The first category of data Google collects is your personal information. This includes your name, email, billing information, and anything else that can identify you—essentially anything that can single you out from a crowd. According to Google, this information is “stored with your Google Account,” which translates to: stored on Google’s servers. As Bob Belcher might say, “Hmm.”

Even when you’re not logged into your account, your activities aren’t anonymous. Google assigns unique identifiers to your devices, ensuring your data can still be tracked. Unfortunately, in today’s tech-dominated world with little regulatory oversight (in the US, at least), collecting personal information is practically the norm.

Your Content: Emails, Photos, and More

Here’s where it gets unsettling: Google also collects “the content you create, upload, or receive from others when using our services.” (Source: Google’s Privacy Policy) This includes emails you write or receive, photos and videos you save, and documents and spreadsheets you create. Why is Google collecting our private emails? In what world is that acceptable? And what exactly are they doing with this deeply personal data?

Devices, Browsers, and Apps: Google Knows It All

When it comes to your devices, browsers, and apps, Google gathers more information than should be legally permissible. Beyond knowing your device’s make, model, carrier name (seriously, why?), and phone number, they also “collect information about the interaction of your apps, browsers, and devices with our services.” This includes your IP address, crash reports, system activity, and the date, time, and referrer URL of your requests. Also, if Google Fit came pre-installed on your phone, then Google is also using that app to track your health and fitness. Because apparently Google needs to know how many steps I take in a day. And if you use Google services to make phone calls, then they are also collecting your phone logs, meaning who you call and when.

But wait, there’s more. On Android devices, Google tracks your battery level, the apps you’ve downloaded, and how often and for how long you use those apps. If you use an Android device, your phone automatically sends this data to Google’s servers without your consent and without notifying you. If Google were a person, they’d probably be arrested for stalking. Though probably not in the US where stalking laws are very weak.

Location Tracking: 24/7 Surveillance

Google also wants to know your location at all times. They collect GPS data, IP addresses, and information about places you’ve searched for or labeled (like “home” or “work”). They even track nearby devices, such as cell towers. This level of surveillance feels invasive—and that’s putting it mildly.

YouTube: The Data Mine You Forgot About

Since Google owns YouTube, it also collects information about your searches, the videos you watch, interactions with ads, purchase activity, and even voice and audio inputs. Remember that time you flagged a racist video or reported an offensive ad? Now Google thinks you want to see even more of that content.

Activity Controls

Thankfully, Google hasn’t completely turned to the dark side. If you must use their services—or simply want to because, let’s face it, Google’s search results are better than most competitors—there are privacy settings you can adjust to limit how much data they collect and store with your unique identifier. Most of these options can be found under Activity Controls.

Google’s Activity Controls allow you to manage what data is collected under several categories:

• Web & App Activity
• Timeline (Location History)
• YouTube History
• Personalized Ads

You can access your personal Activity Controls page here: Google Activity. Once there, click Activity Controls on the left-hand side.

Web & App Activity

The first category under Activity Controls is Web & App Activity. If Web & App Activity is turned on (which is the default setting), then Google collects:

• Web searches
• Audio recordings (from Google Search, Assistant, Maps)
• App usage (including every app on your Android device and when and how long you use them)

To prevent Google from collecting this information and storing it with your account or other unique identifier, chose “Turn Off.”

Under Web & App activity, you can also check and delete your data. To check the data stored to your account, click “Manage All Web & App Activity.” If you scroll down, you will see everything Google has recorded about you—every website visited, every app opened, every search made, and more.

Here, you can also delete your data. The first option is to set up Auto-Delete for 3, 18, or 36 months. When data becomes older than your set timeframe, it will automatically be deleted from your web and app activity log. Or you can also choose to manually delete all of the data.

Does this completely stop Google from collecting your data? That’s unclear. Google might still collect your information even if you turn this feature off, but at the very least your activity won’t be stored with your account or used for targeted ads.

Timeline

Google’s Timeline (formerly known as Location History) tracks locations you’ve been to, routes you’ve taken to various destinations, and any logged trips, like if you use Google Maps to create a trip itinerary.

If this feature is turned on, your device regularly sends your location to Google—even when you aren’t using Google apps. Thankfully, this feature is off by default. However, if Timeline is enabled for whatever reason, you can delete stored location data or set Auto-Delete for a specific time frame.

YouTube history

There are pros and cons to turning off YouTube History, and to be honest, I’ve chosen to keep it on. Why? Because I don’t want YouTube’s algorithm recommending videos from the idiot side of the internet (like Ben Shapiro or Fox News). Those videos are nonsense and will ruin my day.

On the flip side, keeping YouTube History on means YouTube tends to suggest the same videos over and over and over again, rarely introducing anything new. For example, I watch a lot of Taskmaster, yet YouTube keeps recommending the same Taskmaster clips repeatedly instead of suggesting similar content I might actually enjoy.

If, like me, you chose to keep YouTube history on, you can still customize YouTube Data Collection. Under Subsettings, you can toggle on or off any combination of these three options:

• Include watched videos
• Include search history
• Include voice/audio activity

Just like other sections, you can delete all data manually or set Auto-Delete. You can also access and change these privacy settings from the YouTube app.

Personalized Ads

Click “My Ad Center” to adjust personalized ad settings.

• You can customize ads based on interests (e.g., skincare, gaming, fashion).
• Or you can turn off ad personalization completely by toggling the Personalized Ads switch off.

Personalized ads require Web & App Activity to be turned on in order to be effective. So turning off personalized ads is almost redundant since they won’t work without Web & App Activity enabled.

Also under personalized ads is another category called Partner Ad Settings. When on, this setting allows Google partners to show you targeted ads on sites that partner with Google, but are outside of Google services. I recommend turning this off, as it is unnecessary and further contributes to Google profiting from your data.

Privacy Tips for Android Phones

If you have an Android device, it automatically sends Google information about how you use your phone and how it’s performing. You can limit some of this data-sharing by disabling Usage & Diagnostics in your phone’s settings.

According to Google, to turn off Usage & Diagnostics:

1. Open your device’s Settings app.
2. Tap Google > More > Usage & Diagnostics.

However, these steps may vary depending on your phone’s make and model. On my particular device, there was no “More” option. Instead, I found Usage & Diagnostics by navigating to:

Settings > Google > All services, then scrolling down until I found Usage & Diagnostics.

Once found, simply toggle the setting off to stop your device from sharing certain data with Google.

However, even after disabling Usage & Diagnostics, your Android device will still send certain data to Google that you cannot prevent. The Android Device Configuration Service continuously collects information including: device and account identifiers, device attributes, software and security version details, network connectivity and performance data. This data is automatically sent to Google on a periodic basis and cannot be turned off. (Source: Google Support)

Tracking Cookies and Privacy

This tip isn’t just about Google—it’s a general privacy concern. Tracking cookies pose a major privacy risk, prompting both European governments and, surprisingly, even the U.S. to enact regulations aimed at protecting users. While some laws help prevent hackers from exploiting cookies, there’s little legal protection against tracking cookies themselves.

Tracking cookies are what allow Google and other entities to collect your data. They track your online movements and use that information to deliver personalized content and ads. These cookies can be first-party (created by the website owner) or third-party (typically from advertisers on the site). Third-party cookies are the most concerning, as they are more vulnerable to hacking and data breaches.

If you use Chrome, you can block third-party cookies by navigating to:

Settings > Privacy and Security > Third-party Cookies

Then, select “Block third-party cookies” (which is not the default setting).

Additionally, under Advanced, enable “Send a ‘Do Not Track’ request with your browsing traffic.” This sends a request to websites asking them not to track you. However, compliance is voluntary—some websites may stop personalizing ads but still collect your data, while others may ignore the request entirely. Also, Google warns that blocking third-party cookies may cause certain website features to stop working. Which brings us to the issue of consent.

One of the pillars of data ethics is consent—yet most websites force users to accept cookies or they deny access to their content. Forced consent is not real consent. It’s closer to blackmail, which is illegal, and forcing users to accept tracking cookies in order to view content should be, too.

Aside from blocking third-party cookies, you should also regularly delete stored cookies. Even if you never revisit a site, its tracking cookies remain stored on your computer until manually removed. To clear cookies in most browsers:

Navigate to History > Clear Browsing Data.

After clearing cookies, you’ll need to sign back into your accounts, but it’s worth it for privacy. There are also additional tools you can use to delete cookies. Programs like CCleaner or Spybot Search & Destroy scan for and delete tracking cookies from your computer. Both programs offer a free version you can download online.

Final Tip to Protect Your Privacy

The best way to protect your privacy is to avoid using Google’s services—or any other platform, like Meta, that continuously collects and monetizes your personal information. Thankfully, alternative search engines like DuckDuckGo and Firefox offer a more private experience by not tracking your data or serving targeted ads.

However, avoiding Google entirely isn’t always practical. As a monopoly, Google has embedded itself into many aspects of digital life, making some of its services difficult—if not impossible—to replace. For example, off the top of my head, I can’t think of an alternative to Google Maps, which also comes pre-installed on most smartphones and remains one of the most convenient navigation tools available. Any alternative is likely collecting personal data as well, making a switch to a different app feel somewhat futile. Additionally, some Google apps cannot be uninstalled on Android devices, meaning they may still be sharing your data without your knowledge.

While completely escaping Google’s reach may be unrealistic, these privacy tips can help you regain some control over your data—and, most importantly, prevent Google from profiting off of information that rightfully belongs to you.

Disclaimer: This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

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