Saved trips piling up on Google Maps — should I keep them as personal data, and how do I delete them?

Google is already moving this system directly to local device storage anyway. Trips that used to sit on your cloud account are now encrypted right on the phone's local storage. When you wipe the phone or switch devices without a backup, they get deleted regardless. If you turn off cloud backups, the data stays strictly on that phone.

Don't even overthink it, set auto-delete to 3 months and wipe your history. If your phone gets stolen or hit by a cyber attack, a complete breakdown of where you met who over the last 5 years falls straight into unauthorized hands. It's not worth the risk.

Is the device entirely your personal property, or is it running on a company-billed line under an enterprise mobile device management (MDM) profile? If a work profile is installed, you might also need to review your system admin's location policies.

In commercial disputes, Google Maps data does not constitute official legal evidence. When a client claims "you never showed up," a stamped work order or vehicle tracking log holds weight, not a map screenshot. Storing this data for business purposes serves no legal function.

Deleting it from Maps alone isn't enough. As long as "Web & App Activity" is turned on in your Google account, addresses you searched for on Maps and route queries will continue to be stored in your search history. If you want full privacy, you need to pause that activity too.

my battery life noticeably improved after turning off timeline. btw running gps in the background 24/7 just to log locations drains the battery for no reason just turn it off tbh.

Pursuant to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK), personal data must be erased or anonymized once the processing purpose ceases to exist. Past location data stored on a device without supervision may constitute a breach of the data minimization principle, and its destruction is advised.

We experienced almost the exact same thing last year. People defend habits not processes. Resistance comes from there.

Good luck with that.

My questions are cleared up, thanks.

I have a question, don't want to go off-topic though. When we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.

This is my opinion, I'm not claiming it's absolute truth.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. If 2FA is on, a stolen password alone is useless.

An untested backup is not a backup.

I'll argue the opposite, don't get mad. The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on.

If the notification path is long, notifications don't arrive; missing notifications mean delayed incident detection.

Quick summary for newcomers: The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say.

Hope this helps.

There's also a measurement aspect to this. An untested backup is not a backup.

Security isn't absolute; it's about making attacks not worth the effort. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

Proven by experience.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

I agree with this. Security isn't absolute; it's about making attacks not worth the effort.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Following.