Google will no longer store user data 'indefinitely', will auto-delete after 18 months

In major news from Google, the company announced on Wednesday that it will no longer save the complete record of searches made by new users.

For a long time, the company has been criticised for being hooded in terms of sharing what it does with user data. On the other hand, its rival Apple has managed a better and more privacy-oriented record on this front.

As per Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, all saved data of new users will be deleted 18 months after they join. Earlier, the information was stored on its servers forever, which the company claimed was done to improve user experience and to offer personalisation.

All information of people, even the ones who had opted to storing all of their history will now no longer be lodged into Google’s system forever, but instead will deleted after 18 months by default.

“As we design our products, we focus on three important principles: keeping your information safe, treating it responsibly, and putting you in control”, Pichai said.However, this auto-deletion system will not apply to Gmail and Google Photos, which are designed to store personal content.

Introduced as an option last year, the feature allows users to continue using its “smart” services, without the need to store the record of their web activity. However, people who already have a Google account, exactly 1.5 billion of them, need to manually turn enable the feature.

Google already has, and is expected to roll out emails reminding users to complete a “privacy check-up”, which in essence is a confirmation from the company on whether users would like their data to be stored.

Google’s rival, Apple Inc follows a model which relies very little on private data. In its most recent OS release, Apple announced another useful feature with minimal dependence on user data, which will translate for users fully offline.Google’s new feature runs differently, for it will allow the company to gather data, but not indefinitely.