Google Account Privacy Lockdown
Replaces: Default Google account settings (all tracking on)
Turn off activity tracking, location history, ad personalization, and AI data sharing across all Google services.
Sources
Phase
Settings Changes — no install, no account, 5 min
General
1. Chrome: Turn off "Allow Chrome sign-in," "Improve search suggestions," "Make searches and browsing better"
2. Search: Turn off "Personal results" and "Activity controls" → Web & App Activity, Location History, YouTube History
3. Gmail: Turn off "Smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet" and "Google Workspace smart features." Enable "Ask before displaying external images" (blocks tracking pixels)
4. Maps: Turn off "Timeline" (formerly Location History). On phone, revoke Location permission for all Google apps
5. YouTube: Turn off "Pause watch history" and "pause search history." Use signed-out or via alternative client (see privacy-video-client card)
6. Google Takeout: Export your data before changing settings — some data is deleted when you turn off activity controls
7. AI: Do not connect your apps to Gemini. If already connected, disconnect — connected data is used to train AI models "for everyone"
These settings reduce Google's collection but don't stop it entirely. Chrome sends address-bar keystrokes to Google even unsigned. Google Analytics tracks you on 50%+ of websites. The goal is harm reduction until you can fully migrate.
Related Cards
Research Findings
Google has two major backdoors: (1) Gmail relationship with US government — Section 702 allows incidental surveillance of US citizens communicating with non-US persons; national security letters bypass judges entirely; administrative subpoenas access metadata. (2) Ad bid request system broadcasts your GPS coordinates hundreds of times daily to advertisers and data brokers. Google's "Privacy Sandbox" was killed, returning to full third-party cookie tracking. Gemini AI training: Google's own support page says connected app data is used to train generative AI models — not just for you, for everyone. "Personal Intelligence" feature combines all Google data (email, calendar, YouTube, searches) into a single AI-searchable profile.