How do I prevent Google tracking everywhere I go? How to turn off the setting

FINDING new places couldn’t be easier with Google’s map function, but does your account know more about you than you’d like it to?

Because while you probably don’t remember where you were going and how long it took you to get there on any day a year ago, Google might. Here’s how to turn off the function if you don’t want Google tracking you…

How do Google track my movements and how do I tell if I’ve been tracked?

A function that’s hidden away on your Google account could be tracking your every move if you haven’t turned it off.

Location History is a list of places you’ve been to, tracked by the GPS on your smartphone and collated by Google.So that means that every trip you’ve made to work, visit to your mums and even every date you’ve been on could be stored by Google, and the information can go back for years.

To find out whether you’ve been being tracked by Google, check out your Timeline when logged into your Google Maps account.

It’s here that you’ll see how much information Google knows about your movements if you’ve had Location Services switched on.

Can having my location services turned on be useful?

If you want services like suggestions of places to visit in areas you go to often or traffic notifications, then having your location services switched on isn’t all bad and can be handy.

You might want to know about your whereabouts on a certain day in the last year, so having the service turned on is a good way to keep track of your own movements.

But, despite the handy features, if you’re a bit uncomfortable about sharing this private information for free, there is a way to switch it off.

How do I switch off Location Services?

Thankfully, it’s actually really easy to stop Location Services storing your data.

All you need to do is hit the “pause” button on the bottom left of the screen when you’re in the Timeline on a desktop and keep it turned off – or you can even deactivate it in your phone’s settings.

If you want to delete your history, you can do this too from here.

But you should note that just blocking Location Services doesn’t stop Google completely from accessing your location data – if you use apps like Google Maps and Uber, your information may still be stored unless you turn off your GPS.

Recently, Google created its own jobsite, while the company’s web browser Chrome knows when you’ve been watching too much porn.