Google's new feature shows you a map of everywhere it knows you've been

Google has known everywhere you've visited for a while now if you have location services turned on, but now it's turning that into an easily accessible feature for people to browse.

According to a recent Google blog post, the company is gradually rolling out "Your Timeline," a new feature billed as a useful way to remember the places you've been on a given day, month, or year.

The timeline lets you scroll through time and see all the places where Google's location trackers saw you go.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

Google timeline

Google imagines you getting nostalgic about a museum you visited during your last vacation, or that "fun bar you stumbled upon a few months ago." But observing the patterns in your movements is equally fascinating - and may prompt you to get off the couch more often, or turn off location services altogether.

And though there are certainly privacy concerns for people looking to minimize their digital footprint, you can always turn off the feature, and there are some very concrete benefits this new Google product provides:

1. Remembering which bar you went to
2. Remembering where you parked your car
3. Casual alibis

Of course, Google wants to assure you that the timeline is private. It is visible only to you and you can control the locations it keeps, if any at all. You can delete days or just wipe your history - or you can turn off location history entirely.

Google

This feature is available on desktop and Android, and you can only access it if you have opted-in to use Location History.