One of Sharon's readers, and a long-time correspondent, recently asked if we knew that Google kept a record of all the searches done through their service. When we responded that we did, indeed, know that, he asked if there were any way to delete that search history. We wrote back with detailed instructions for doing that, and Sharon thought maybe the topic would be of interest to the EA members, so I've reproduced the steps here.

To Delete Your Search History on Google:

1. Go to: www.google.com. In the upper-right corner, click "Sign In."

2. Enter your Gmail address, followed by your password. Click the "Sign In" button.

3. On the next page, click "My Account" at the upper-right.

4. You should see the words, "My Services," in bold type close to the top-center of the page. Click the "Edit" link beside those words.

5. Click the link labelled "Delete Web History."

As a further suggestion, we recommend that you use www.mamma.com or www.ask.com for future searches. Those sites don't store your history until the end of time, or at least don't admit to doing so.

Happy searching, friends.

Shortie

Thank you, very interesting. Does this apply to people using google but

not using g-mail? Thank you

Johnmil (imported) wrote: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:06 am Thank you, very interesting. Does this apply to people using google but

not using g-mail? Thank you

Hi, Johnmil,

If you've ever registered for an account at any part of Google, then the same basic procedure applies.

Google "ties" your search history to your unique IP Address, whether or not you've ever registered with the site. The only way to clear your history is to register with the company, and since their Gmail service is the best available [we actually use our Gmail account as our default e-mail provider], it makes sense to set up at least one account with them. No matter how many accounts you have with Google, you can clear your search history by accessing only one of them, since your IP Address is used, and not your username.

You can set up a new account by going to: www.gmail.com. Once you've done that, just follow my original instructions to clear the search history.

In a similar vain... a website can record all sorts of data about the user. From screen resolution to sites you have come from and going to. While there is not much you can do for most of the stats, but for the websites you have come from or going to open a blank browser then enter or select the link you want to go to.

IbPervert (imported) wrote: Wed Oct 17, 2007 8:22 am In a similar vain... a website can record all sorts of data about the user. From screen resolution to sites you have come from and going to. While there is not much you can do for most of the stats, but for the websites you have come from or going to open a blank browser then enter or select the link you want to go to.

Thank you for that advice. I had never thought of it.

The logs they have from searching are kept for 3 years or 7 years, I forget - you can not clear them - they are held for evidence and statistics.

You can clear them from YOUR accessibility but they can still come back to bite you if ever you are investigated.

Computer forensics is my best friends job, she owns a company that does this stuff for a living.

NOTHING on the internet is private - there are items stored that I ran into about me from 1995.

Tclosetgirl (imported) wrote: Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:48 am The logs they have from searching are kept for 3 years or 7 years, I forget - you can not clear them - they are held for evidence and statistics.

You can clear them from YOUR accessibility but they can still come back to bite you if ever you are investigated.

Computer forensics is my best friends job, she owns a company that does this stuff for a living.

NOTHING on the internet is private - there are items stored that I ran into about me from 1995.

Hi, Tclosetgirl,

You're absolutely correct about information being stored long term, if not forever, on the Internet.

In the interest of brevity, my original post, which initiated this thread, did not go on at length about that subject. We had originally been asked about deleting search history by one of Sharon's readers, and it was his desire to eliminate his history on his computer only, not the entire Internet, which would be impossible.

His concern arose when one of his grandchildren used his computer to search Google for a term that began with the letter "B." When the kid typed the first letter, up popped a list of previous searches, with the first one being, "ball-cutting videos." :-\ Quite understandable he'd want to prevent that sort of thing ever happening again, eh wot?

Anyway, the procedure we detailed will remove the search history from the local machine, not Google, and most definitely not the Internet.

Shortie

Oops sorry!

I should have read closer

According to my Google Web History this website is my #9 most visited site.

twaddler (imported) wrote: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:44 am According to my Google Web History this website is my #9 most visited site.

The other eight, care to share?? Insatiable curiousity at work here.