London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Google Maps keeps a detailed record of everywhere you go -here's how to stop it

Google Maps keeps a log of everywhere you go in its “Timeline.” You can see where you were on a particular day, how you got there, pictures you took at certain locations and more. Here’s how to delete all of that data and turn off tracking entirely if you want.

Google Maps tracks everywhere you go on your iPhone or Android phone, and then keeps a log of this information in a “Timeline” that shows you everywhere you’ve been.

This includes a creepy level of detail, like exactly when you left work, when you arrived at home, the exact route you took along the way, pictures you took in specific locations and more. It’ll show you if you were driving, walking or on a train, and any pit stops you might have made during your journey.

Sometimes this information can be useful, like if you want to remember the restaurant you ate at on Nov. 7 in New York City. (For me, it was Philippe Chow), and what you did before and after that.

Here’s an example of that day, including my stop for lunch, and a meeting I took with Snapchat on the Upper West side earlier in the day.

If I zoom in, you can see the exact route I took to get there and where I parked. It’s wild:

There’s no reason Google needs to know this much information about you, unless you really care about things like Google’s recommendations based on where you’ve been (like restaurants you might like). There are a few ways you can reclaim your privacy.

First, here’s how to delete everything Google Maps currently knows about you:

Open Google Maps on your iPhone or Android phone.
Tap your profile picture on the top-right.
Choose “Your data in Maps.”
Choose “See & Delete activity.”
Hit the menu button on the top-right of the page and select “Settings.”
Choose “Delete all location history.”

I also recommend that you set it up so Google automatically deletes all this location data every three months. Here’s how:

Open Google Maps on iPhone or Android.
Tap the menu bar on the top-left of the app.
Choose “Your Timeline.”
Tap the three dots on the top-right of the screen.
Choose “Settings and privacy.”
Select “Automatically delete location history.”
Change the setting from “Keep until I delete manually” to “Keep for 18 months” or “Keep for 3 months.”

If you’re really paranoid, you can turn it off entirely so Google Maps can’t track you at all. Just do this:

Tap your profile picture on the top-right.
Choose “Your data in Maps.”
Tap where it says Location history is “on.”
Toggle the switch to off.
Confirm you want to pause location history (it’ll remain off until you turn it back on, if ever.)

Or, if you don’t mind Google tracking you day to day but just want to stop it for a little while, you can turn on Incognito mode in Maps by doing this:

Open Maps on your iPhone or Android phone.
Tap your profile picture on the top-right.
Choose “Turn on Incognito mode.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×