10 Google Privacy Bypasses Everyone Should Know
From managing your Gmail inbox to downloading apps on your Android smartphone, virtually every aspect of your digital life is somehow connected to Google. This is immense power in the hands of a company that makes money by selling your data to advertisers. While it’s impossible to completely avoid Google tracking without giving up many important online services, you can use these privacy tips to reduce the company’s tracking and protect the information in your Google account.
Use Gmail aliases to keep your account anonymous.
Your Gmail account doesn’t have just one email address. In fact, you have an unlimited number of addresses, but using them requires a special trick. When signing up for a new service, you can add another word to your email address, along with the “+” symbol, to create an alias. For example, if your email address is ” [email protected] ” and you sign up for an Amazon account, you can use ” [email protected] ” as your email address. The email will still go to your main inbox, just as if you’d simply used [email protected] . This trick not only allows you to turn one Gmail address into an unlimited number of addresses, but it also helps you identify who sold your email address to spammers, since those emails will have an alias in the “To” field.
If you want to make your email more private, you can also link your Proton Mail account to Gmail . This will allow you to send and receive emails through your Gmail address while still taking advantage of Proton Mail’s privacy protections, such as blocking email tracking.
Check your session logs and disable unauthorized apps to protect your account.
The web version of Gmail has an important security feature that allows you to view your session logs . This feature is inexplicably hidden at the bottom of your inbox, and the font size is very small, making it easy to miss. To find it, sign in to Gmail on the web and scroll down to the bottom of your mail folder. Click the Details button in the bottom right corner, under the “Recent Account Activity” section. This will open a pop-up window with a list of devices, apps, and locations from which you’ve recently signed in. This makes it easy to see if there’s been any suspicious activity on your Google account, and you can click the ” Security Checkup” link in the pop-up window to view this data. Note that if you use a VPN or a service like iCloud Private Relay, you may not see your device’s location. To check if unwanted apps are accessing your Google account, you can visit this settings page .
Turn off personalized recommendations to step outside the search bubble.
Google wants to show you personalized search results, which initially seems very useful, but ultimately traps you in an algorithmic bubble. The best way to escape this bubble is to periodically use other search engines, but if you want to stay loyal to Google, you can disable personalized search recommendations in Google Search and the Play Store on Android. Go to this settings page and turn off “Personalized recommendations” and “Play Store personalization.”
Turn off web and app activity tracking to prevent Google from tracking your location.
By default, Google tracks your web and app activity, including your search history, voice data (if you use speech-to-search), and activity on websites, apps, and devices that use Google services. However, related information, such as your location, is also stored in your Google profile, which, as you might expect, isn’t included in the “Web & App Activity” section. Fortunately, you can disable this tracking by going to this settings page , scrolling down to the “Web & App Activity” section, and disabling all options in that section.
Turn off Timeline to prevent Google from sharing your location data with you.
Google’s Timeline feature stores your location in Google Maps, creating a map of the places you’ve visited. This is useful if you want to track your recent visits; however, Google may use Timeline data to help businesses evaluate the effectiveness of their advertising or the likelihood that you’ll visit nearby stores. The confirmation page confirms this: “Depending on your settings, activity saved in your Google Account history, including interactions with ads, may also be linked to Timeline data to help nearby businesses evaluate the likelihood that you’ll visit their stores. No personal information is shared with businesses.”
The Timeline feature is disabled by default, but if you enabled it some time ago and no longer use it, you can disable it by going to this settings page . Tap “Turn off” and delete your activity to remove Timeline data from your Google account.
Opt out of personalized ads to reduce Google tracking.
It’s impossible to completely avoid Google’s ads and tracking, but you can disable personalized ads to prevent the company from using your account data to display ads. To do this, visit this settings page and disable personalized ads .
Turn off smart features to prevent Gmail from suggesting smart replies.
While Google claims it doesn’t use your emails to train AI , the company does offer AI features that make your emails feel more mechanical than human. One such feature is “Smart Reply,” which suggests replies to emails, such as “Got it. See you soon.” I can write that myself, and I don’t like it when Gmail analyzes the content of my emails and replies to suggest suggestions I wouldn’t use anyway. You can disable this feature by going to Gmail Settings > General or visiting this settings page . Scroll down to the “Smart Features” section and uncheck the box next to it. This will disable Smart Compose, Smart Reply, suggestions for pending replies and follow-ups, spell checking, grammar, and auto-correct.
Use a physical security key to protect your account from data leaks.
A physical security key is a great security upgrade. It’s a physical barrier that prevents most remote attacks on your account. Even if someone learns your email address and password and gains access to your two-factor authentication code, they won’t be able to log in without physical access to the key. More information about compatibility and setting up physical security keys can be found on Google’s support page .
Remove your credit card from Google and use a virtual card instead.
If you’re serious about your privacy and online security, I’d advise against storing your primary credit card in your Google account. If your account is hacked or your device is stolen, you risk exposing your credit card to fraud. Instead, use a prepaid virtual card with your Google account. Websites like Privacy.com offer one-time-use or merchant-linked prepaid cards, and they also allow you to set spending limits. You can use these services with your Google account to reduce the risk of losing money if your account is hacked.
Turn off personalization to prevent Google from using your emails and photos to serve ads.
Google uses data from Gmail and Google Drive to target ads , meaning your emails, files, and photos may be used for monetization. To prevent this, you need to disable the “Personal Intelligence” feature. To do this, go to this settings page and click ” Turn off Personal Intelligence.”