Every time you search, shop or share content online, you leave behind a trail of personal info. Jonathan Parkyn explains how to reclaim and review data you’ve posted on the web
Download your Google search history
Google is famous for tracking our every online move. But the company also now makes it possible for you to download and review a lot of the data you leave in your wake, including your personal search history. All you need to do is log into your Google account on the Google History site (history.google.com), then click the cog icon in the top-right corner and select Download from the menu.
You’ll see a warning telling you that you’re about to download sensitive personal information and offering advice on how to keep your data private (which is rather ironic considering how eagerly Google gathers it in the first place). If you’re happy to proceed, click the Create Archive button and Google will send you a link to your data archive, once it’s ready for you to download. You can then grab the ZIP file from Google Drive, extract it and use the Index file to explore your search history in your browser.
Bear in mind that downloading your search data won’t wipe it from Google – it will just let you review your history, identify trends and hold on to the info for safekeeping. However, it is possible to delete specific searches from your Google History page by ticking the unwanted terms – or clicking the square at the top of the page to ‘Select all’ – then clicking ‘Remove items’.
Download the rest of your Google data
If you followed the instructions in our previous tip, you’ll have noticed that your search history was exported to a new folder in your Google Drive account called Takeout. Developed by the somewhat alarmingly named Google Data Liberation Front, Takeout is Google’s way of letting you move your data to or from the company’s services, which is particularly useful if you’re switching from one company’s tool – a calendar, for example – to another’s.
To claim your data from Takeout, head to bit.ly/takeout372 and sign into your Google account. You’ll see a list of all the Google services you can download data from, including Photos, Google+, Gmail, Drive, Contacts, Calendar and more. You can even download all your Google Play books in HTML format. When certain items are clicked, you may be offered a choice of export formats, for example CSV, vCard and HTML for Google Contacts. Use the options on the right to select or deselect the data you want, then click Next and follow the remaining prompts.
Download all your data from Facebook
Facebook, by its very nature, stores an astonishing amount of information about you – all your posts, likes, shares, photos, events you’ve been to and more. It’s one thing to browse this via your own Facebook page, but to get the full picture of how much data Facebook has about you, you can download the whole lot as one big archive.
To do this, log into your account, click the small down arrow in the top-right corner and choose Settings. Select the option to ‘Download a copy of your Facebook data’, click Start My Archive, then re-enter your password when prompted and click Start My Archive again. As with Google, you’ll be sent an email to tell you when your archive is ready. Download the file from the link provided as soon as you can (because the link is only valid for a few days) and enter your password again when asked. Unzip the archive and double-click the Index file to browse all your Facebook data. Scary, isn’t it?
Download all your photos from Flickr
Annoyingly, Flickr doesn’t offer a built-in way to download all your photos at once. But there is a useful third-party app that unlocks this option. It’s called Bulkr and you can get it for free from bit.ly/flickr372. You’ll need Adobe Flash and Adobe Air to run the tool, but you’ll be prompted to install these if you don’t already have them. Once you’ve installed Bulkr, authorise your Flickr account so the app can access your photostream and download multiple photos and videos in a single click.
Bulkr lets you grab copies of any Flickr user’s albums – including your own – and download images in four different sizes (small, medium, large and original), along with their titles, tags, geotags and descriptions in EXIF format. The free version of Bulkr has some limitations – for example, you can only download up to 50 images at a time – but if you need them all in one go, you can buy the Pro version for $40 (about £26).
Download your entire Twitter history
If you’ve had enough of Twitter and want to delete your account, you might first want to consider downloading an archive of all your tweets. Even if you’re not about to permanently unplug yourself from the Twittersphere, grabbing a local copy of your posts and activity can be useful – and enlightening!
Go to your Twitter homepage and click your profile thumbnail in the top-right corner, then choose Settings. Scroll down and you’ll see a ‘Request your archive’ button. Click this, then check your email for a link to download the file. Be patient, though, because the message can take a while to arrive.
Grab a copy of your LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn is another social network that lets you download a copy of your data. Log into your account, then move your mouse over your profile’s thumbnail in the top-right corner and select Privacy & Settings. You’ll be prompted to sign in again. On the next page, click the Account tab, choose ‘Request an archive of your data’ and select ‘Request archive’. As with Twitter, a link to your data will be emailed to you. It can take up to 72 hours, so keep an eye on your inbox.
Export your notes and notebooks from Evernote
Evernote already syncs your data between its online service and your computer, if you use its Desktop app. But if you want to make copies of your notes and notebooks, as a means of backing them up in case disaster strikes, you’ll need to export them. You can’t currently do this using the web version of Evernote, so launch the Desktop app instead, then right-click a note or notebook and select Export Notes. In the window that opens, select a suitable file format and click Export.
DOWNLOAD YOUR AMAZON SHOPPING HISTORY
Frustratingly, Amazon.co.uk currently lacks one of Amazon.com’s most useful hidden tools, which is the ability to generate and download an Order History Report (bit.ly/order372). This effectively provides you with a list of all the purchases, deliveries, refunds and returns you’ve made within a specific time frame, or since you started using Amazon. All you need to do is log into the site, click Your Account, then choose Download Order Reports from the options listed under Orders. Choose the type of report (Items, Orders and shipments, Returns and refunds), and the start and end dates, then click Request Report. The CSV data file this creates can then be imported and viewed in Excel. If that sounds like a feature you’d like on the UK site, why not email Amazon (bit.ly/amazon372) to suggest it?