New Delhi, February 20: In today’s hyper connected world, every search, click, and location check adds to your digital footprint. From social media platforms to search engines, tech companies collect vast amounts of personal data. If you want to reduce online tracking and improve data privacy, this five step guide will help you erase your digital footprint and protect your personal information effectively.

Delete Your Google Search and App Activity

The first step to reclaiming online privacy is clearing your stored activity from your Google account. Most browsing data, YouTube history, and Google Maps activity are stored in one place.

How to clear your Google activity:

• Go to your Google Account

• Open Data and Privacy

• Click on My Activity

• Select Delete activity by

• Choose All time

This removes your past search queries, app usage, and location records, giving you a clean slate. How to Update Your Gmail Address Without Losing Emails or Files?

Turn Off Future Tracking and Data Collection

Deleting old data is not enough if tracking continues. To prevent new data from being collected:

Adjust these Activity Controls:

• Turn off Web and App Activity

• Disable Location History

• Pause YouTube History

Switching off these settings stops Google from logging your daily online behaviour and movements. Gmail AI Inbox: Google’s Artificial Intelligence-Powered Inbox for Its Email Service Could Be Glimpse of Future, Says Report.

Enable Auto Delete for Ongoing Privacy

If you prefer automated privacy management, set up Auto Delete.

Steps to activate Auto Delete:

• Go to Activity Controls

• Select the Auto Delete option

• Choose 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months

This ensures your activity data is automatically removed after a selected time period, reducing long term exposure.

Strengthen Device and Cross Device Privacy

Your digital footprint also expands across devices. Smartphones, tablets, and desktops often sync browsing patterns.

Improve device privacy by:

• Turning off cross device tracking

• Reviewing app permissions regularly

• Limiting background location access

• Disabling ad personalization

This prevents advertisers and service providers from building a complete profile of your digital habits.

Use Privacy Focused Tools and Security Practices

To maintain long term digital privacy, adopt proactive security measures.

Recommended privacy tools:

• Use a reliable VPN to hide browsing activity from your Internet Service Provider

• Switch to privacy first browsers like Brave

• Use search engines such as DuckDuckGo

• Enable two factor authentication on all accounts

• Update passwords every few months

Combining these steps significantly reduces tracking, prevents data leaks, and protects against cyber threats.

Erasing your digital footprint requires more than a one time cleanup. It demands consistent privacy management and smart browsing habits. By deleting stored data, disabling tracking, automating retention settings, securing devices, and using privacy focused tools, you can take control of your online presence and safeguard your personal information in an increasingly data driven world.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2026 06:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).