Google Maps is bringing a big change to the way it stores your location data, according to a report. It will soon allow devices to store location and history data locally (on the device) instead of Google Cloud, the report suggests. In addition, the company will also set the auto-delete feature, which automatically deletes data from the timeline after a certain period of time, to three months. All data prior to this will be deleted, the report adds.
Storing Maps locations on your device
According to a report by The Verge, this move is part of Google's efforts to double down on privacy measures. In an email sent to Google users, the company revealed that they have until December 1 to save their location information, such as places they've visited and trips they've taken, to their devices. After that, it will start deleting the old data, according to the report.
This will reportedly include location history, now known as Timeline. Google says Timeline is a “personal map” that helps people remember routes and trips based on their location history. Users have the option to edit and delete their history data. From now on, all location data will be tied to the device locally instead of Google Cloud.
The tech giant first announced this privacy-based initiative in December 2023. In a blog post, it said: “If you're a subset of users who have chosen to turn on location history (it's turned off from by default), your timeline will soon be saved directly to your device, giving you even more control over your data. As before, you can delete all or part of your information at any time configuration completely”.
How to continue using Timeline
According to the report, Google says that to keep location history turned on, users need to open Google Maps on their smartphone and tap the profile picture in the top right corner. Then head to the Chronology and set the function to Turned on.
In addition, users can also choose how long they want Google to store their data, from three months to three years. Alternatively, they can also toggle the manual delete option which will keep the timeline data until the user manually deletes it.
