Google has announced a major policy update regarding how it stores user data for its ad business. Google currently offers users an option to delete their web data automatically after a period of 3 months or 18 months on a periodic basis, which includes search, location, and voice command information given to Google Assistant.

Now, Google is enabling the auto-delete feature by default for new users. So, if new users haven’t taken any action to review and delete their data, Google will automatically delete it after a span of 18 months. Also, if you are enabling the option for the first time from the My Activity section, it will set the auto-deletion period to 18 months.

If you’ve already enabled it, Google won’t change the settings, but it will remind you about the new data retention policy via in-app notifications and emails. Moreover, Google is also extending the new policy to YouTube “where auto-delete will be set to 36 months by default if you create a new account or turn on your YouTube History for the first time.”

Source: Google