There's no doubt Google is keen to track just about everything you do online and inside its apps, but it's also fair to say the company puts a comprehensive set of security and privacy tools at its users' disposal. You can use these tools to manage data in everything from Google Maps to YouTube.

And there is a lot of data to manage: With Gmail, Gemini, Android, Chrome, and all the other apps and services it runs, Google can suck up a vast amount of information about you and what you're up to. It's important to make sure this data is being managed in a way you're comfortable with, and kept safe from unauthorized access.

All of these security and privacy settings can be found by heading to your Google account page on the web, in a desktop browser.

Automatically wipe the data Google is storing

If you click Data and security and then Web & App Activity, you can see the bulk of the data Google is holding on you. There's a lot of it, in a lot of categories—from searches you've run on the web, to movies you've watched on Google TV—and you can delete any of these bits of information, either individually or in batches based on date or app.

Even better, you can have Google wipe this data automatically after a set period of time. Click Choose an auto-delete option, and you can have some or all of your data wiped after 3, 18, or 36 months. There's also the option to turn off data collection in these categories completely, or to only have certain types of information wiped automatically.

Set up recovery information

Make sure your account recovery details are up to date. Credit: Lifehacker

Let's hope you never get locked out of your account, but if you do, Google will try and use your registered recovery phone number and email address to verify your identity and restore your access—so you need to make sure this information is up to date. To do this, click Security and then Recovery phone or Recovery email to enter or edit the details.

Customize the ads you see

It's difficult to get away from Google ads, but you can at least tweak the ads you see. From Data and privacy, select My Ad Center to start making changes. The first setting you can change is to turn off personalized ads entirely, which won't reduce the number of ads you see, but will mean they're not specifically targeted at your demographic.

To make more granular tweaks, click any of the categories listed (like Education or Industry) to disable personalized ads or correct assumptions Google has made about you (such as your relationship status). You're also able to click Customize Ads to change the ad topics you get shown, and to disable ads for sensitive topics like weight loss or gambling.

Enable dark web reports

Google can keep tabs on the dark web for you. Credit: Lifehacker

Did you know Google can warn you if your information leaks out on the dark web? Which gives you a heads up that you need to change your passwords or take additional precautions. From the Security tab inside your Google account, click Start monitoring under Dark web report. You can then specify the info you want Google to look out for.

Manage location sharing

From the Data and privacy screen, you can manage how Google tracks your location over time, and also manage which other people can see your location. Click Timeline to configure how your location history is saved on specific devices: You can turn off this history completely, or have it automatically wiped after a certain amount of time.

Select Location sharing under Data and privacy to see which contacts are sharing their location with you, and vice versa (if this is something you've set up). You're able to stop sharing your location with any of these people at any time, as well as set up email reminders that periodically remind you that you've got this feature turned on.

Check connected devices

Disconnect devices you're no longer using. Credit: Lifehacker

This is a good check to run regularly: From Security, click Manage all devices to see everywhere you're signed into your Google account. If there are old devices you've forgotten about, or other people are using your account when they shouldn't be, you can revoke permissions. You can also get help if you see a device you don't recognize.

Set up a digital legacy plan

It's important to make some plans for when the inevitable happens—if only to make life easier for the family and friends you leave behind. Google lets you choose what happens to your data after you're gone through what's known as a digital legacy plan for your account.

If you click Data and privacy and then Make a plan for your digital legacy, you can set this up. It's not a particularly complicated or time-consuming process: You just choose which contacts you want to have access to your data after a certain period of time (from three to 18 months), and which categories of data you want to leave available to them.

Revoke access for third-party apps

You might be surprised at how many apps are connected to your Google account Credit: Lifehacker

Connecting to apps and services with your Google account is quick and convenient, but the more of these connections you have, the more exposed your account is. Remove outdated and unnecessary links to third-party apps by clicking Security and then See all connections.

Turn on two-factor authentication

We've said it plenty of times in the past, and we'll keep saying it: Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the best ways to protect your accounts, because it means hackers need more than a username and password to get at your data. Typically, a code from an authenticator app is also needed when you're logging in on a new device.

To get 2FA set up on your Google account, if it isn't already, click Security then 2-Step Verification and follow the instructions on screen. You get a choice of 2FA methods you can use, besides an authenticator app, which include having confirmation prompts sent to authorized devices (such as your phone) and using a physical security key to log in.