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No, you absolutely can't delete your search history, which Google stores in perpetuity, and you can't delete the copies of your SMS messages that sit on some se
by ltbarcly3 7y ago
No, you absolutely can't delete your search history, which Google stores in perpetuity, and you can't delete the copies of your SMS messages that sit on some server somewhere, probably forever. All you can do is make it inaccessible in the app or web page you as the user can view it from.
- ben509 7y agoThere are two distinct threat levels: 1. the mostly anonymized logs that require a technically difficult crack and would impact many thousands (millions?) of people simultaneously. 2. activity that can be tied directly back to individuals by anyone with time on their hands. You're absolutely right that there are servers maintaining logs and such, that aren't accessible, but they fall into #1. And category #1 can happen, the famous cheating website being cracked as a great example. But that was itself relatively exceptional since simply being a user was enough to end in divorce. The Slack message history distinctly falls into #2. It's a far more immediate problem.
- konspence 7y agoEverything they have published shows that you can delete search history, among other things. They recently released a feature which is effectively a TTL on searches, for retention purposes.