Google Maps Enhances Privacy Controls with New Features for User Data Management

Google Maps is set to introduce several updates aimed at providing users with greater command over their privacy. The popular navigation service is implementing a feature that allows individuals to swiftly eliminate their digital footprints associated with certain places visited. This means that whether someone has searched for a location, asked for directions, checked in, or shared a spot like a bakery, they'll soon be able to remove that specific history from the app effortlessly.

In addition, Google Maps is integrating privacy settings access into the app's familiar blue dot—the one that marks a user's location on the map. By tapping on the blue dot, users will be able to check their Location History and Timeline configurations to see if they are active and confirm whether Maps can access their device's location information.

The upcoming features designed to delete location-centric activities and to control settings via the blue dot are set to be available in Google Maps on both Android and iOS platforms in the next few weeks, according to the tech giant.

Furthermore, Google Maps indicated plans to store Timeline data, which chronicles the places a user has visited, directly on the device for those who have enabled Location History. Marlo McGriff, the director of Product at Google Maps, noted in a blog post that this change preserves the user's ability to wipe out any portion of their data whenever they choose or to switch off the feature entirely. For users getting a new phone or concerned about misplacing their current one, there's an option to safeguard their data through cloud backup. This backup will be encrypted, preventing anyone, including Google, from reading the information.

An additional modification to privacy settings involves the default setting for auto-deleting Location History. Newly activated Location History will now have an automatic deletion timeframe of three months instead of the previous 18 months.

Google plans to implement these enhancements gradually over the next year for both Android and iOS, with notifications alerting users when the updates reach their accounts.