In January 2026, Google Play began moving two key privacy settings into the Google Play app itself: Personalization in Play and Play History. The change separates these Play settings from a broader Google Account setting called Web & App Activity, so each setting now stands on its own [1].
Key Takeaways
What changes now
- Google Play is giving Personalization in Play and Play History their own controls inside the Play app [1].
- Web & App Activity will no longer turn Play personalization and Play History on or off after the transition finishes [1].
What stays the same
- During the rollout, the Play settings copy the most recent choice that was made in Web & App Activity, so the experience does not suddenly flip for most people [1].
Why it matters
- A single account can now have different “memory” rules for Play versus other Google services, which makes settings clearer but also easier to misunderstand [1], [2].
Story & Details
A small menu move with a big meaning
Google Play is changing where its privacy switches live, and that location matters. For years, Play’s personalization and the record of what someone did in Play were tied to Web & App Activity, a wider Google Account setting used across many products [1]. In January 2026, Google Play started a transition that pulls those Play choices into the Play app’s own settings menu [1]. The headline sounds simple, but the real story is about “separation.”
Teaching: One account can hold more than one memory
Web & App Activity is a broad history switch. Google describes it as a control that affects what activity gets saved to an account and how it can be managed in a central place called My Activity [2]. Google Play, however, is now carving out its own space. After the transition, turning Web & App Activity on or off does not automatically change Play History or Personalization in Play [1]. This is the key lesson: two switches can look like one, until they are split.
Teaching: A transition can copy the past, then stop listening to it
Google Play says the new Play settings will start by matching the most recent choice made in Web & App Activity, and then the settings will become independent [1]. This kind of design avoids sudden surprises during a rollout. It also creates a new moment of confusion later: a person may change one setting and expect the other to follow, but it will not.
Teaching: “Off” does not always mean “nothing happens”
Play History is the part that sounds most direct: a history is either saved or not saved. Yet Google Play’s Help Center adds an important detail. Even when Play History is off, some Play activity may still be “temporarily associated” with an account to support things like relevant experiences, debugging, and enforcement against misuse [1]. In plain terms, an “off” switch can still allow short-lived handling of data, even if long-term saving is reduced.
Teaching: Time limits are a privacy tool, not only a cleanup tool
Google Play also explains that Play History can be kept until it is deleted, or it can be set to auto-delete after a set period such as three months, eighteen months, or thirty-six months [1]. This is more than housekeeping. In privacy science, data that is never collected is safest, but data that is deleted sooner also reduces long-term risk. A shorter window means fewer old signals feeding future recommendations and fewer old items sitting in storage.
Teaching: Personalization is pattern-matching, not magic
Personalization in Play is about shaping what is shown: app suggestions, search hints, and content that feels “made for me.” Systems like this typically rely on patterns across actions, such as what is searched, viewed, installed, or ignored. A switch that reduces personalization can make recommendations feel less tailored, but it can also reduce how much past behavior is used for prediction [1]. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (North America) describes a wider ecosystem where tracking technologies and identifiers can shape content and advertising across the web and apps, which helps explain why these switches matter to people who value privacy [4].
Teaching: Privacy is also a risk management problem
In the United States (North America), the National Institute of Standards and Technology describes its Privacy Framework as a voluntary tool to help organizations identify and manage privacy risk while still building useful services [3]. That framing fits what is happening in Play: the product is not leaving personalization behind, but it is giving users clearer boundaries and more specific knobs. The same bigger picture sits behind Google’s own Privacy Policy, updated with an effective date in December 2025, which explains how Google handles information across services [5].
A short Dutch mini-lesson for settings words
Dutch is widely used in the Netherlands (Europe). The phrases below help with finding and changing privacy settings.
Phrase 1 (neutral, everyday)
- Dutch: Waar vind ik mijn privacy-instellingen?
- Simple meaning: Used to ask where the privacy settings are.
- Word-by-word:
- Waar = where
- vind = find
- ik = I
- mijn = my
- privacy-instellingen = privacy settings
- Natural variants:
- Waar staan mijn privacy-instellingen?
- Waar kan ik mijn privacy-instellingen vinden?
- Register note: Calm and normal. Good in a store, help desk chat, or with a friend.
Phrase 2 (clear, practical)
- Dutch: Ik wil mijn geschiedenis verwijderen.
- Simple meaning: Used to say the history should be deleted.
- Word-by-word:
- Ik = I
- wil = want
- mijn = my
- geschiedenis = history
- verwijderen = delete, remove
- Natural variants:
- Ik wil mijn Play-geschiedenis verwijderen.
- Kun je mijn geschiedenis verwijderen?
- Register note: Direct but polite. Works well in support talk.
Conclusions
A cleaner map for privacy choices
Google Play’s January 2026 change is not just a new menu item. It is a new map of responsibility. Play keeps its own personalization and history choices, while Web & App Activity continues to shape what is saved across other Google services [1], [2]. For many people, the biggest shift is not what the switches do, but how clearly they show what is being controlled.
Selected References
Public sources
[1] Google Play Help Center — “Manage personalization and history on Google Play”
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/16693200?hl=en
[2] Google Account Help Center — “Access & control activity in your account”
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7028918?hl=en
[3] National Institute of Standards and Technology, Privacy Framework (United States, North America)
https://www.nist.gov/privacy-framework
[4] Federal Trade Commission consumer guidance (United States, North America) — “How Websites and Apps Collect and Use Your Information”
https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-websites-apps-collect-use-your-information
[5] The NIST Privacy Framework (YouTube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izdDPlEmhJc
Appendix
Key terms A–Z
Activity Controls — Google Account settings that affect what kinds of activity can be saved to an account and how that activity can be managed [2].
Algorithm — A set of rules a system uses to decide what to show or do, often based on patterns in data.
Auto-delete — A setting that removes saved history after a chosen time window, reducing how long older activity stays stored [1].
Cookie — A small file a website can place on a device to remember choices or support tracking across visits [4].
Data Retention — How long information is kept before it is deleted or removed from active use.
Machine Learning — A method where a system learns patterns from many examples to make predictions, such as which apps a person may like.
Personalization — A way of shaping content so it fits a person’s interests, often by using activity signals like searches and installs [1].
Play History — A record of certain actions linked to Google Play that can be kept, deleted, or set to auto-delete depending on settings [1].
Web & App Activity — A Google Account setting that manages saving activity from Google sites, apps, and services into an account’s activity history [2].
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 