Google and Youtube Give You More Control Over Your Data and Recommendations

Large technology companies, such as Google and Facebook, have rightly found themselves in a focus of attention that has lately been correctly focused on data, privacy and security issues. At best, this continuing approach can encourage these powerful organizations to make changes that give people more control over their data and their experience on the platform. Google (which also owns YouTube) has been implementing adjustments in the last two months in this spirit that it should take advantage of. This is what you should look for.
Automatically delete your data from Google
In May, Google announced that it would allow it to choose the periodic and automatic deletion of certain types of data it collects from you.
The automatic removal option first arrived at a category called "Web Activity and Application." Google allows you to choose to have that information reset every three months, every 18 months or every time you choose to do it manually. If you want Google to delete that type of data (for example, you can include your search queries on the web), you can do so by logging into your Google account, clicking on "Data and personalization", then on "Web and applications Activity ", then "Manage activity”. Doing this on a desktop is an easy route.
Today, Google said on Twitter that the automatic deletion option is now also being implemented for its Location History. We know since May that they would be offering this feature sometime this month, and now the company is starting to offer it. As with Web & App Activity, choosing to have Google deletes your location data every three months, for example, is a good idea for people who want to strike a balance between privacy and practicality. Apps like Google Maps, after all, only work well if they know where you are, so taking a step like disabling all location services on your smartphone makes it a much less useful device.
The place to look for this option right now is not on your desktop, but through the Google Maps application, whether you're using iOS or Android. In iPhones, for example, start the Maps application, touch the three-line menu button at the top left, then "Your timeline", then the three points at the top right, then settings, then look for the option automatic removal It may not be available to you yet.
Make YouTube recommendations better
Other useful features are coming to YouTube, the company announced today. The most useful of the lot is one that will allow you to prevent the application from recommending specific channels. While the option is not yet available in the desktop version of YouTube, it should already be there in the YouTube apps for iOS and Android (make sure you have updated your apps recently).
This feature will be useful when you are on the "Start" screen of the YouTube application or if you frequently find a channel that you do not want to see in your recommendations. To try it, scroll through the suggested videos that YouTube presents. You will see three vertical points on the right, below the video; Click on them and you will see a new option called "Do not recommend channel".
If you think that one of the suggestions of YouTube videos is offensive, annoying or simply uninteresting, this is your way to make sure you do not see the videos of that channel recommended for you. For example, YouTube keeps suggesting videos of Saturday Night Live, and if for some crazy reason I do not want to see them again; I could silence the SNL channel in this way.
YouTube is also starting to display other features, too. One will provide topic suggestions at the top of the home screen and near the "Next" videos, which will take the form of words like "Bake" or "DIY Projects" that will appear in bubbles. "They can be videos related to the one you're watching, videos published by the channel you're watching or other topics that may interest you," says YouTube. Click on a suggestion to find more fun videos "Bake", for example, if you are hungry.
Finally, YouTube also says that they will start giving you explanations about why they recommend certain videos, so you have more idea why YouTube thought you might like it.
By: Preeti Narula
Content: https://www.popsci.com/google-youtube-data-location-recommendation-changes/