Google Confirms It Accidentally Deleted Maps Timeline Data For Some

Google Maps users person precocious been complaining connected places like Reddit that their Timeline information — nan app’s humanities grounds of wherever they’ve been — had disappeared. Now, Google has confirmed that it accidentally deleted nan information and that anyone who wasn’t utilizing Google’s unreality backups is retired of luck.

Google spokesperson Genevieve Park provided this connection successful an email to The Verge:

In a Reddit post that Android Authority spotted, users reported getting a akin connection successful an email from Google that included instructions for recovering nan information for those who’d turned connected nan app’s unreality backup feature. To spot if it’s connected for you, pat your personification icon successful nan iOS aliases Android Google Maps app, past “Your timeline,” and look for a unreality icon pinch either an arrow wrong of it (on) aliases a statement done it (off). You tin pat nan icon to alteration your backup settings.

Google warned users past summertime that it was switching to on-device storage for Google Maps location data. That meant you could support way of your Maps location history without having it tracked connected Google’s servers, which is awesome for privateness but comes pinch nan consequence of it abruptly vanishing, arsenic Google’s “technical issue” shows. And unfortunately, while Google Maps lets you export location history information to a file, Google’s instructions for recovering Timeline data see nary evident measurement to reimport nan information that doesn’t impact nan unreality backup servers.

Update March 23rd: Updated pinch confirmation from Google spokesperson Genevieve Park.