You cannot achieve data privacy without erasing your personal information from the number one search giant on the planet. Google has become a dominant force on the internet with not just its search platform but even with its other products like Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, and Chrome.

Chances are, you're using a number of these platforms on a daily basis. And without even realizing it, you're likely feeding them with a ton of personal data. Google is the new Big Brother, watching over your every move. But can you escape its surveillance? Of course, you can, at least, for the most part.

So, in this article, we'll show you how to remove info from Google search, YouTube, Chrome, and other key Google products and stop them from stripping away your data privacy.

The looming privacy threats

By its own admission, Google collects an alarming amount of personal data. Here's an extracted section from its Privacy Policy:

"[We] collect the content you create, upload, or receive from others when using our services. This includes things like email you write and receive, photos and videos you save, docs and spreadsheets you create, and comments you make on YouTube videos."

This statement alone is enough to give goosebumps to anyone even remotely concerned about data privacy. Of course, Google promises not to sell identifiable data such as your name and email address. But this is hardly comforting when you consider the vast amount of information it constantly collects.

And where does all this data go? To help personalize your experience, measure performance, improve services, develop new products, and ensure user safety, says Google. But hidden among these are personal motives, too.

Take personalization, for example. Google doesn't just track your activities and preferences to customize content and user settings. It also uses your personal data to personalize the ads you see. And it's not doing this because it cares about your advertising habits. The truth is, Google makes billions of dollars from advertisers with the help of your personal data: that's $147 billion to be exact for 2020, which gives it a 29% share of the global digital advertising spending.

So, is Google making money at the expense of your privacy? It certainly seems so, especially considering you don't get a single cent out of the billions of dollars it makes from your data.

But Google also allows users to have a say about data tracking and sharing. Strangely, many people are either still unaware of the privacy options available to them or do not use them enough. To be fair, Google doesn't particularly emphasize them either. After all, the fewer the users who know about privacy features, the better it is for Google's wallet.

If you've been in the dark about its privacy options, too, then worry not. You're about to find out how you can use them to get back some much-needed space from Google.

Removing your data from Google products

Here are a few critical options to follow:

Use the "Settings" feature.

Every Google product comes with a Settings feature, which typically lists down various privacy options. For example, Google Maps gives the option to turn off your location and delete location history, map searches, pinned trips, and private feedback on places. You can even prevent ride-sharing services from connecting with your route information on Maps.

Similarly, YouTube allows you to delete payment information and connected apps, opt out of video recommendations, and keep your playlists and subscriptions private. Of course, the available options will vary depending on the Google product.

So, start by identifying all Google platforms you use. Then go into each of their Settings options and remove various data tracking and sharing permissions. If you're using several devices, you might need to access these Google products on each of them to ensure your device-specific choices get saved in them all.

Use the "Google Account" dashboard.

Now, your Google Account page provides a faster way to delete saved data and remove data access permissions on multiple Google platforms.

The fact is, Google connects all your activities across several of its products when you access them using the same login ID. Undoubtedly, this gives you improved ease of access. But it also allows Google to watch your user behavior on several of its platforms. Then, it connects the dots by compiling all that it collects under your profile. This gives it a more comprehensive view of what you do online. So, it's highly likely that Google knows more about you than even your better half or best friend.

But your Google Account page comes with several useful options to avoid all this surveillance. For example, you can turn off ad personalization, pause YouTube history and location history tracking, and prevent Google from saving your activities on its apps and sites. So overall, it's an easy way to manage your data privacy on a single dashboard. However, it's always advisable to adjust privacy settings on individual Google-owned platforms as well for added assurance.

Tackle non-Google sites.

It's also important to get your personal data removed from non-Google websites. It could prevent the search engine from indexing content and displaying them on its SERPs.

Then ensure you turn off data monitoring and sharing features across all online accounts and devices. It'll help prevent Google from tapping into the data collected by sites outside its network.

Another more extreme option is to delete your Google account altogether. But remember, this comes at a cost. There are certain undeniable perks of associating with Google and its products. So, severing all connections with the tech giant is no longer an option for many people.

Besides, this won't help you escape Google entirely. For instance, it won't prevent your personal data from turning up on Google search results. So, to completely evade its surveillance, you'll need a more comprehensive data cleansing. The steps we've outlined will certainly help get you started.