How to opt-out of Google data collection
(This content is valid as of Feb 1st, 2019)
Google tracks a lot of very detailed personal information about you. They make it possible to opt-out, but don't advertise this process very well. Checkout the following page while logged in to your Google account:
https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols
It lists the following categories of information: * Web and App Activity * Location History * Device Information * Voice and Audio Information * YouTube Search History * YouTube Watch History
For each of these you can click the slider to pause data collection, then click “MANAGE ACTIVITY” and follow the instruction to delete all of your data.
All of this is used to provide personalized recommendations and targeted advertisements, but nothing core to the Google offerings. Your YouTube suggested videos should get a lot less personal, and Google might not auto complete your work address in Maps, but you will have made a small assertion about your privacy.