Under fire for the sheer amount of personal data it collects, Google will finally allow you to auto-delete your activity and location history, the company announced Wednesday.
Users on both iPhone and Android can now opt in to auto-deletion of sensitive location information after either 3 or 18 months. Right now, the feature only works with your location history, but Google plans to bring the same auto-deletion functionality to web and app activity over the next few weeks.
“You should always be able to manage your data in a way that works best for you — and we’re committed to giving you the best controls to make that happen,” David Monsees and Marlo McGriff, Google product managers, wrote on the Google Blog.
Anyone who uses Google Maps likely knows just how detailed their tracking can be. For many users, Google records a complete map of everywhere you’ve been every month. That’s prompted privacy concerns from advocates, users, and even government regulators concerned that giant tech firms like Google have too much control over user data.
The company told users in August that it tracks your location even if you turn Location History off. Deleting your activity manually was previously an option, but giving users the opportunity to set it and forget it might provide a bit more peace of mind that Google doesn’t have a yearslong record of your every move.
That record of everywhere you’ve been (not to mention any website you’ve visited in Chrome or everything you’ve ever searched on Google) could be embarrassing or annoying it fell into the wrong hands — if your account was compromised or Google’s servers were hacked, for example.
The feature is still rolling out to phones and may not be enabled for a few days. Here’s how to enable auto-deletion of your location data:
You’re all set after that — in 3 or 18 months, your visit to the taco shop for lunch today should be wiped from Google’s servers.
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.