Google’s will soon let you auto-delete your personal data

Google’s giving users more control over your data it stores on its servers. The company on Wednesday announced a new set-and-forget auto-delete feature that will wipe your personal data after a predetermined period.

Google notes that while users can delete their personal data — location history and activity data, that is — by visiting their account controls, the auto-delete feature makes the process simpler. Basically, people hate remembering.

“Choose a time limit for how long you want your activity data to be saved — three or 18 months — and any data older than that will be automatically deleted from your account on an ongoing basis,” Google noted in a blog post.

These new options can be found in your account settings, where you’d traditionally wipe your Google slate.

Annoyingly, three months or a year-and-a-half seem to be the only two options at present. There’s no granular controls, or more acute day or hour spans for hyper privacy-conscious users. Still, it’s a step in the right direction.

“These controls are coming first to Location History and Web & App Activity and will roll out in the coming weeks,” Google added.

Feature image: Google