Data privacy remains a key topic, even with other preoccupations during the era of coronavirus. The extent of data privacy follows individuals gaining greater awareness of what happens to their own data, including who stores it and who actually owns it, together with a realization that some personally identifiable information is in the public domain. This greater user awareness comes in the context of a raft of new privacy legislation appearing. Europe has instated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to help give EU citizens more control over their personal data. A similar legislation is underway in California.
Google is keen to provide more access and control over data content to users. Among the measures announced by the Internet giant are new data retention practices. With these, Google is updating to make auto-delete the default for its core activity settings. Starting today, activity data will be automatically and continuously deleted after 18 months, rather than kept until deleted.
Furthermore, various privacy control updates have been instigated, including easier access to Google Account controls directly from Search; plus, easier access to Incognito Mode in Google’s most popular apps. This is by long-pressing on user profile pictures in Search, Maps and YouTube.
It also stands that each year, more than 200 million people visit Google’s Privacy Checkup. In response to this, Google is adding proactive recommendations, including guided tips to help users manage your privacy settings.
In addition, Google is seeking to provide more protection to personal information. With this, Google will provide a snapshot of a person’s Account security and also offer personalized recommendations to help keep user data safe. In July 2020, Password Checkup, will now become a core part of the Security Checkup.
Google has stated it is also investing in privacy-preserving technologies. This includes a new ‘Framework for Responsible Data Protection Regulation‘, which is Google’s regulatory framework, based on privacy laws and models around the world to pave the way for privacy-first tools.
