If you’re like most of us, YouTube is your daily companion—whether it’s for learning, entertainment, or even working. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: every click, search, and second you spend on YouTube is being tracked.
Yes, you read that right.
Google, which owns YouTube, collects a staggering amount of personal data: your search history, watch behavior, location, device details, and even how long you watch a video. While Google claims it doesn’t “sell” your data, it does use it to show you hyper-targeted ads and personalize your entire online experience.
If you’re someone who values privacy and prefers to stay in control of your digital footprint, this guide is for you.
We’re going to walk through step-by-step how to change important privacy settings linked to your YouTube usage via your Google account. These settings are not just for the YouTube app but apply system-wide across any device you use while signed into your Google account.
Let’s get started!
🎯 Why Is It Important to Change These Settings?
Before we jump into the steps, let’s understand why these changes matter.
Google collects and stores:
- Videos you watch
- Search terms on YouTube
- Your location while using YouTube
- Device and browser type
- App usage across other Google products
- Login history for third-party services connected via Google
This data is often used to:
- Show you personalized ads
- Recommend videos
- Build your advertising profile
- Analyze behavioral patterns
By default, all of these features are turned ON. But the good news is—you can disable them manually.
✅ Step 1: Open Your Google Account from the YouTube App
Let’s begin by accessing your account settings:
- Open the YouTube app on your phone.
- Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Select Google Account from the menu.
You’ll now be taken to the settings page for your entire Google account.
🛡 Step 2: Disable Personalized Ads from “My Ad Center”
Next, we’ll stop Google from using your activity to personalize ads.
- Scroll and tap Data & Privacy.
- Scroll down and tap My Ad Center.
- Under “Ad Personalization,” you’ll see a toggle for Personalized Ads.
- Tap the toggle to turn it Off.
- Tap Confirm to finalize.
💡 Note: Disabling personalized ads does not stop ads altogether, but it prevents Google from tailoring them based on your personal data.
🕵️♂️ Step 3: Disable YouTube Watch and Search History
Let’s now move on to YouTube-specific tracking.
- Go back to the Data & Privacy tab.
- Scroll up and tap YouTube History.
- Scroll down to find a toggle with “YouTube Watch & Search History.”
- You have two choices here:
- Turn off entirely: Tap Turn Off to stop Google from saving your watch and search history.
- Customize: Tap Manage History and deselect “Include your YouTube videos watched” or “Include your searches”.
Once done, YouTube will no longer save what you watch or search for.
🗑 Step 4: Enable Automatic Deletion of History (If You Keep It On)
If you decide to keep some tracking on for recommendation purposes, at least set it to auto-delete.
Here’s how:
- In the YouTube History section, scroll down and tap “Choose an auto-delete option”.
- Select Auto-delete activity older than 3 months.
- Tap Next, then Confirm.
This keeps your history tidy and prevents long-term tracking.
📍 Step 5: Turn Off Location Tracking
Google also tracks your physical location when you use YouTube (and other apps).
- Go back to Data & Privacy.
- Tap Location History.
- Tap the toggle next to your account to turn it Off.
- Tap Pause, then Got It.
📌 Why Disable It?
- Prevent location-based ads.
- Reduce battery usage.
- Maintain privacy if you don’t want your whereabouts tracked.
🔐 Step 6: Revoke Third-Party App Access to Your Google Account
Over time, many of us sign into websites and apps using “Sign in with Google.” These third-party apps may continue accessing your data indefinitely—even if you no longer use them.
Let’s clean that up.
- In your Google Account, go to Security.
- Scroll down and tap Third-party apps with account access.
- Tap Manage third-party access.
- Review the list. For services you no longer use:
- Tap the service name
- Scroll down
- Tap Remove Access
⚠️ Warning: Don’t remove access for apps you still actively use (like Gmail extensions or productivity tools).
💬 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Will disabling ad personalization stop all ads?
No. You’ll still see ads, but they won’t be based on your interests, searches, or past behavior.
Q2. Can I still get good video recommendations after turning off watch history?
Recommendations may become less accurate over time. However, you can still manually curate your home feed using the “Not interested” and “Don’t recommend channel” options.
Q3. Does turning off location history stop GPS in maps?
No, turning off “Location History” only affects long-term storage of your visited locations. Maps and other apps may still use real-time location.
Q4. What if I delete a third-party app by mistake?
You can reauthorize the app the next time you log in using Google. You’ll be asked to re-grant permissions.
Q5. Can I do all this on a computer instead of the YouTube app?
Yes, these steps also apply via desktop browsers at https://myaccount.google.com.
🤝 Final Thoughts: Take Control of Your YouTube Privacy
So far, we’ve made serious progress in safeguarding your privacy on YouTube and across your Google account. We’ve turned off ad personalization, disabled history tracking, stopped location sharing, and revoked unwanted third-party access.
Here’s a quick recap of what we did:
- Accessed Google Account via YouTube
- Disabled personalized ads
- Turned off or limited YouTube history tracking
- Enabled auto-delete for stored data
- Disabled location history tracking
- Reviewed and removed third-party app access
🎉 Well done! Taking these small actions helps you regain control over your personal data.
Remember, Google and YouTube will continue adding new settings over time. So it’s a good habit to revisit your privacy dashboard every few months.
Tags:
YouTube privacy settings, disable personalized ads, turn off YouTube history, Google ad settings, revoke third-party access, YouTube tracking, YouTube location tracking, Google account privacy
Hashtags:
#YouTubePrivacy #GooglePrivacy #AdPersonalization #DigitalPrivacy #StopTracking #YouTubeTips #OnlineSafety #GoogleAccountTips
⚠️ Disclaimer: While these settings improve privacy, they do not guarantee full anonymity. Google may still collect essential service data. Use browser extensions, private DNS, and privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo or Brave for additional security.
