Susan Nefzger PR

Tip of the week: Stop Google from tracking your searches

A reader recently asked: You wrote about how to set your Google search data to self-destruct. But those instructions were for people with Google accounts. What if I don’t have a Google account?

The answer: It’s a bit of an open secret that Google keeps a history of your search activity even when you are not logged in to a Google account. Here are two solutions if this bothers you:

• On Google.com, click on Settings in the lower-right corner. Then click Search Settings. Click on the blue hyperlink labeled Search customization. In the next page, for the option labeled Signed-out search activity is on, toggle the switch to the off position. This will prevent Google from recording your search activity while you are not logged in to an account.
• You can also try a private search engine like DuckDuckGo, which works similarly to Google but does not track our online behavior.