Google will soon let you auto-delete activity and location data

If you're worried about your Google data history coming back to haunt you, you'll be glad to hear that there's now an easy way to keep that history brief. Google is rolling out auto-delete controls for your activity data and location history, letting you automatically scrub information after three or 18 months. While that's not particularly fine-grained, it does save you from having to manually wipe info just to avoid leaving a permanent record.

You should see the option sometime in the "coming weeks." Google also stressed that this was just the "first" move, so don't be surprised if you have similar auto-delete functions for more of your data history after this. Whenever those features arrive, this reflects an increasing awareness at Google of the importance of privacy -- even if the company is still prone to the occasional misstep.