Does Google know where you are? No?

In case I forget what I did last Wednesday, Google remembers

We don't always realise what we are agreeing to when we check boxes in our apps. If a web service asks you 'Remember your location?', don't expect it to forget a convenient time later. Google, to take an example, has something called Location History. It's not a secret, but nor do they advertise the fact like you might think.

If you have chosen to let Google know your location, and there all sorts of legitimate reasons, like finding your way using Google Earth or Maps, it will have kept that record. Have a look here.  If you have more than one login, check each one individually (my school Google doesn't track me, my personal one does, when I let it). In retrospect, you can think 'of course they know that' but it can come as an unwelcome reminder that the Net doesn't suffer from the amnesia we humans are prone to.

As the map above reveals, I was at school last Wednesday. At least, with my aging phone, they weren't spot-on with the precise location, but I can see when I visited Hillside or Lower School TO THE SECOND.

The good news is if you don't like it you can erase the past or switch it off into the future. The option is right there on the same page as the map and calendar (see left).

It is a matter of personal taste whether you like this or not. Google (or Apple, or your GPS) is only remembering what you have told it, after all. The important thing is to know what you are sharing and the consequences of keeping it or erasing this information.

Sync your clouds with CloudHQ

Imagine. You have been using Dropbox for a few years and then your school introduces Google Drive. Or Evernote. Or One Drive. It's too late to start over; teachers and students all over the world have links to your documents where they are.

This is exactly what has happened to me: in its wisdom my institution here in Europe has decided to get us all to use the Microsoft cloud (called variously OneDrive; Sky Drive or Office 365). But I'm a confirmed Google Driver. I've got more than six years of 1 to 1 resources in there and they are linked by a web of links to my wiki and blog (with up to 5000 visitors per day). How would you go forward with this?

You'd want to sync your clouds wouldn't you? That's what CloudHQ says it does. That would be between Google and MS in my case, but also Evernote and Dropbox and a load of others, covering many of the places that we teachers keep our digital teaching lives.

It's a paid service, but you can try it for free and it will also work at the institutional level.