June 1st, 2016, marked the one-year anniversary of Google’s My Account. An online portal where you can quickly access controls to your Google account, safeguard data and protect your privacy. The platform also holds tools for managing your Ads Settings and allows you to conduct Privacy and Security Checkups.
In its one year run, My Account has registered over a billion users from around the globe. To mark its first anniversary, Google has decided to bake in three more new features that will allow you better and easier control to your data:
Find your Phone
This feature lets you locate, lock up, call, and secure your smartphone. We keep much personal information on our mobile devices; text from a spouse, text you won’t want anyone to have knowledge of, your bank account details, family pictures, and more.
You can forget/lose your phone at the café, inside a taxi, or in between the couch cushions and panic will enter your mind. With Google’s My Account’s feature, Find your Phone, you can ring it, lock it, locate it, and worst case scenario wipe your data clean off. This feature is open to both Android and iOS devices.
Voice Command: ‘Ok Google, show me my Google Account’.
Over the last two year, the number of people navigating through apps and services on their phones using voice commands has tripled. Thus, Google has also baked in Voice Command feature into the My Account app, allowing you to navigate through it using your voice. To start the app, just command; “Ok Google, show me my Google Account”. This voice command currently only supports English, more languages will be added later.
Googling your name to find My Account online
In the future, you will also be able simply to run a Google search of your name, and if you are signed in on that browser, Google will display a shortcut to your My Account on the search engine result page.
Google says, “When you entrust your data to Google, you should expect powerful security and privacy controls. These features are just the latest in our ongoing efforts to protect you and your personal information. We’ll continue to make updates based on your feedback.”
