Browsing online, it seems like Google might be one of few large data companies to actually obey requests by people to remove all data on someone, but my evidence isn’t strong. It’s just someone on Reddit who says they worked at Google and can confirm that they implemented a thorough system to get rid of all their data on an individual, and another person who says that some time after they made their request, Google started to “go stupid,” which makes them think Google actually deletes their data. Does anybody in this community know one way or the other?
Follow-up question: Is there anything I should make sure to copy and download before making the request, for, say, legal reasons or something?
It cannot with 100% certainty be possible to know if Google indeed deletes your data upon request. But I am quite sure they do because they would not want another class action on their hand if ever they caught - and such things always come out at some point.
It is always recommended to delete your account after you have downloaded the data they have on your from within your account settings. But if you do not want any, you don’t need to but know that you can never get it back - obviously.
I would be hesitant to delete a Google account, as it may be necessary to use in the future for some reason and creating a new Google account might require getting a new phone number. Maybe you write a book in the future and want to publish to Google Books - you’ll need to create a Google account.
Google will also need to retain some records for business reasons legally even if you request deletion.
Google will delete inactivate accounts after several years with no action.
Deleting much lower-value accounts from other sites might be worthwhile, but the way I see it, you have more power if you keep your Google account and don’t use it.
Edit: Oh, and another thing - if you use Google to sign into accounts on another website, you’ll never be able to access that site again if you delete your Google account.
I’d give you a scenario that might no go entirely to the realm of speculation:
Google has your data.
You request your data to be deleted.
Google deletes your data.
Google has backups.
Google cannot delete your data in the backup without incurring unreasonable cost to move around backup data just to delete your account.
Google has to comply with the laws. Like FISA, among other things.
As such, it is not inconceivable that an an allied foreign country will have automated request for your data.
Said data is sent back to the US because they hunger for intelligence as well that it cannot legally take on ita own soil.
What I am trying to say is, you can delete it as part of harm reduction. I really think Google wont have it anymore afterwards. But do not believe it is truly deleted.
They must also comply with laws like the GDPR, CCPA, nFADP, LGPD, etc. which (may) mandate data deletion. It’s misleading to only present one side of the coin.