{"id":44673,"date":"2015-07-29T08:47:23","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T15:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=44673"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:18:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:18:50","slug":"google-maps-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/google-maps-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"Forgot Where You Were Yesterday? Google Has You Covered."},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Tuesday, Google introduced Your Timeline<\/a> for its Google Map website and Android devices. Your Timeline acts as a documentarian of your location history, dutifully recording where you\u2019ve been, when and for how long.<\/p>\n

For many, this will probably be a convenient feature to draw upon when you can\u2019t remember where you were when you had those excellent Buffalo wings or that one time you saw something that might make for a great gift. On the convenience factor, Your Timeline will rank pretty high \u2014 like bringing up your camera function on your phone without having to unlock it first. And, thankfully, Your Timeline is only viewable by you.<\/p>\n

For others, however, it might seem a bit much. And that\u2019s fine. Users should always have the final say on just how much privacy they retain or give up when it comes to convenience features. And those wanting to retain those vestiges of privacy when it comes to location tracking certainly can.<\/p>\n

According to Google<\/a>, you can disable or delete or modify any data retained by Your Timeline. Users can edit the places they\u2019ve visited, give them names, or remove a specific visited spot. You can also delete a day of tracking or delete the entire history of Your Timeline, as well as disable the feature. Additionally, Your Timeline is \u2018opt-in,\u2019 that is, location tracking will not be turned on without your permission, which is great news from a privacy standpoint.<\/p>\n

How to Manage Location Tracking<\/h2>\n

There are<\/em> a variety of reasons why you\u2019d want to track where you\u2019ve been. Keeping track of your habits is one. Seeing how much you\u2019ve worked out in the afternoon is another. But if you feel that location tracking \u2013 with any app or device \u2014\u00a0is too intrusive, you have a few options:<\/p>\n