You may have noticed that after watching a video on YouTube, you are shown related videos or advertisements. This is because Google saves your information every time you watch a video, leave a comment, or use the like or dislike button on YouTube.
This data is then used to customize your site experience and show targeted ads. If you would rather your activity not be tracked by YouTube, you can take a few steps to stop it.
How Do They Track Your Activity
YouTube collects information about your activity on the site using website cookies and other tracking technologies. This includes data such as the videos you watch, the comments you leave, the advertisements you click on, and more. This information is used to personalize your experience and show you relevant advertisements.
This is what you need to do if you don’t want YouTube to track your activity.
How to Stop YouTube From Tracking Your Activity
You can turn off YouTube’s activity tracking feature on whatever device you use to access it by following the following steps.
- Open the YouTube app and sign in to your account (if you aren’t already).
- Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen.
- In the menu, select Your data in YouTube.
- Under the YouTube controls section, tap on Manage your YouTube Watch History.
- Tap the Controls header and tap the Turn Off button.
- Confirm that you want to stop saving your YouTube history by tapping on Pause.
After pausing your history, tap on Delete old activity to clear your existing YouTube watch history. This will clear your YouTube history of all the videos you’ve watched.
These instructions apply to both the Android and iOS YouTube applications. The steps may differ slightly on other devices, but the overall process should be the same. Simply look for the appropriate options.
To Turn Off or Not to Turn Off Tracking?
It is entirely up to you whether or not to disable tracking on YouTube. Disabling activity tracking is probably a good idea if you’re concerned about your privacy.
If you don’t mind seeing targeted ads or want YouTube to customize your experience, you can leave tracking enabled. Ultimately, it’s your decision to make.
