While the threats on our online accounts are increasing day by day, there are still some special privacy tools that can help us keep our personal details safe and secure. Today, January 29 is Data Privacy Day and in this post, we will learn about the Google Privacy Checkup Tool. The tool allows you to harden your Privacy settings and make your Google online accounts like YouTube, Search, Ads, Google Plus, Hangouts, Communities, etc., safer and more private.
Google is one of the most commonly used web-portal and much of our personal details and information are stored here. This special tool from Google offers 4-step privacy controls and helps us make our online account safer.
Google Privacy Checkup Tool
See how your profile appears to the public
To begin with, Google Privacy Checkup Tool lets you set how your Google plus profile appears to the visitors. Here you can decide which of your details will be visible to the public and which will be private. Google Plus has a different tab for all you have on your G+ account. For example, you can choose if the public visiting your G+ account can see your photos, videos, reviews, or the content you are sharing.
While the threats on our online accounts are increasing day by day, there are still some special privacy tools that can help us keep our personal details safe and secure. In this post, we will learn about the Google Privacy Checkup Tool.
See how your profile appears to the public
To begin with, Google Privacy Checkup Tool lets you set how your Google plus profile appears to the visitors. Here you can decide which of your details will be visible to the public and which will be private. Google Plus has a different tab for all you have on your G+ account. For example, you can choose if the public visiting your G+ account can see your photos, videos, reviews, or the content you are sharing. If you don’t want anyone to see your photos, videos, +1s, or reviews, turn them off. In short, this tool lets you hide everything from a stranger visiting your profile.
You can also decide what others see about you on your Google Plus page. For example, you can decide to show or hide your contact details, education, date of birth, and work history. 
You can decide if or not you want the world to see which Google Communities you are a member of and whatever you post on that communities. 
From the tab ‘edit your shared endorsements settings’, you can decide if the world can see your endorsements, recommendations and reviews or not. 
Help People Connect You
Here you can set if people with your phone number find and connect with you on Google services like Google Hangouts, or not. Also, let the world find your name, photo, and other information that you’ve made visible on Google. You can add your phone number to your Google account
Manage what you share on YouTube
Under this tab, you can select how much of your YouTube activity is visible to your Google Plus friends or to the public. You can also show or hide your YouTube activities like your saved playlists, subscriptions, and liked videos. This Google Privacy Checkup Tool also lets you make your playlist public, private or unlisted. You can adjust or change the privacy settings at any time.
Personalize your Google experience
This tab of the Google Privacy Checkup Tool lets you choose what all information is shared with Google, for example, your Web & App Activity, your Location History, the information about the device you are logged in from, all your voice & audio activity, and YouTube Search/Watch History. 
The web activity includes all your searches and your browsing history on all your devices with Chrome. It is always recommended to hide this information from strangers.
You can also activate the Auto-delete feature for your Google Search and YouTube history. The time period for Auto-delete is 3 months, 18 months, and 36 months. After activating this feature, your history will be deleted automatically after the set time period. However, you can also delete the history manually anytime.
Make ads more relevant to you
Click on Manage Your Ads Settings to control the ads delivered to you. You can choose to get the ads according to your interests or not. With Ads based on your interests ON, you get to see the ads based on your prior search queries, the videos you have watched, or the interests you have added. On the other hand, with Ads Based on Interests off, you will see the ads based on your location. 
To get some really useful ads, you need to add your interests, for example, if you are a gadget lover you can add your interests and you will be delivered with the most relevant advertisements. 
While Google lets you choose the ads on your own preferences, it has no option of disabling the ads completely.
This Google Privacy Checkup Tool not just lets you adjust the privacy settings, it also helps you review your security settings and activity. Just click on ‘Get Started’ and you can check if your privacy settings are intact or not. 
Google Security Check-up includes:
- Checking your recovery information
- Checking your connected devices
- Disabling access for less secure apps
- Checking your account permissions
Google always keeps an eye on all your account activities and sends you an alert whenever there is some suspicious activity on your account.
Click here to visit the online tool.
How can I protect my privacy using Google?
You can use the Google Privacy Checkup tool to review and harden your privacy settings. It has several options that will help you protect your privacy. Google keeps a record of your search. You can set up Auto-delete for your web & app activity, location history, and YouTube history. You can also manage your Google account access by third-party apps.
Is Google Safety Check safe?
Google Chrome comes with a built-in Safety Check feature. Chrome Safety Check takes care of your privacy and security. It alerts you when your passwords are compromised, blocks dangerous websites by default, etc. Moreover, Android smartphones also come with a Play Protect feature which scans your smartphone for harmful apps.
Do also check the Facebook Privacy Checkup tool to have a safe and secure Facebook account and Google Plus Privacy and Security Settings to be safe on your Google Plus profile.
