My Google Map Blog

Archive for December 10th, 2019


How we power climate insights and action

by Rebecca Moore on Dec.10, 2019, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

This week, governments and NGOs from across the globe are convening at COP25, the United Nations climate conference in Madrid, to discuss the latest efforts to fight climate change. Addressing this pressing issue on a global scale requires urgent action from countries, communities and businesses. At COP25 we shared how Google is focused on building sustainability into everything that we do and making it possible for everyone to build a more sustainable world.

As cities now account for more than 70 percent of global emissions, we believe that empowering city governments with comprehensive, climate-relevant data and technology can play a critical role in igniting action. 

One way we are doing this is with partners like the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy. We’ve brought our online tool, the Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE),to cities across the world, providing high-resolution data to measure greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and take informed action to reduce CO2 emissions.  As of today, EIE has now expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide.

Environmental Insights Explorer: Now available in 100+ cities worldwide

Empowering local action in cities worldwide

As we look beyond our latest efforts to equip cities with more comprehensive data, we’re also exploring how we can help communities turn these insights into action at the local level.

To further accelerate climate action, Google.org is launching a new $4 million fund in collaboration with ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability.Grants from the fund will support nonprofits and academic institutions in Europe and Latin America that are leading data-driven climate action efforts.

The first grantee is Iniciativa Climática de México (ICM), a Mexico-based nonprofit organization that catalyzes international climate policy at the national and city levels to reduce emissions of GHGs and promotes low carbon growth in Mexico. Grant funds will be allocated to their “Hogar Solar” program. This program channels government spending on electricity towards the installation of solar panels to help increase access to power for those facing energy poverty, provide cleaner energy sources and reduce overall electricity costs. 

Data-driven initiatives like this are essential to addressing climate change and are needed at a global scale. As we fund more grantees, we will share what we learn on how to best engage in data-backed sustainability planning and action.


Translating global insights

EIE relies on anonymous, highly aggregated mapping data and standard GHG emission factors to estimate city building and transportation carbon emissions, as well as solar energy potential. We’re already seeing the early impacts of cities putting the power of EIE data behind climate plans, from bike-friendly initiatives to solar programs.

While EIE has officially published data for 100 cities, the EIE team has processed climate-relevant data across an initial sample of 3,000 cities to produce emission insights from approximately 95 million buildings and nearly 3 trillion kilometers traveled. 

Our analysis found that cities can have a huge impact in protecting our climate:

Making environmental information available will continue to be critical as cities, communities and companies worldwide band together to address climate change. We’re committed to doing our part, and want to extend our thanks to the forward-looking city officials and climate leaders collaborating with us on this project.

If you’d like to request EIE data for your city, let us know. And learn more about Google’s other sustainable efforts at sustainability.google.

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Updates to Incognito mode and your Timeline in Maps

by Marlo McGriff on Dec.10, 2019, under 3D Models, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, California, Denmark, England, Germany, Google Earth News, Google Earth Tips, Google Sky, Google maps, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Natural Landmarks, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Street Views, USA

People turn to Google Maps to make their lives easier—whether it's getting tips and recommendations tailored to your daily commute, or knowing when your favorite restaurants, grocery stores and places may be the most crowded so you can avoid a long wait in line. Handy tools like this are improved by Location History–when you turn it on, this optional setting helps make Maps more useful for everyone, as well as personalized to your needs.


Throughout this year, we've focused on making it easier to control, manage and delete your Location History information. Location History is off by default, and you can choose to delete all or part of your history automatically when you turn it on. We introduced auto-delete controls so you can choose to keep only three or 18 months’ worth of data—anything older than that will be automatically deleted. Your Data in Maps lets you quickly access your Location History and other privacy controls with just a few taps. And on Android, Incognito mode on Google Maps stops searches or places you navigate to within Maps from being saved to your Google Account.


Today, we have two updates: Incognito mode is rolling out on Google Maps for iOS today, and bulk delete in Timeline will arrive on Android next month.


Incognito mode

Incognito mode on iOS works the same way it does on Android. While in Incognito mode, the places you search for or navigate to won’t be saved to your Google Account and you won’t see personalized features within Maps, like restaurant recommendations based on dining spots you’ve been to previously. Using Incognito mode on your phone will not update your Location History, so the places you go won’t be saved to your Timeline.


incognito_ios

Bulk delete in Timeline 

Your Timeline is a tool that uses your Location History to help you easily remember places and routes you’ve visited–and on Android, share them with friends. With bulk delete, you can quickly find and delete multiple places from your Timeline and Location History all at once. You’ll still have the ability to delete all or part of your Timeline by date range from your Location History settings. 


bulk_delete_v2

How Location History improves Google Maps

We’re committed to providing simple, easy-to-use tools to manage your Location History—as well as clearly explaining how it makes products more useful. Scroll through the images below to learn more about Google Maps features made more helpful by Location History.


Stay up to date on your Location History settings

It’s our goal to help you stay informed about your Location History. If you’ve chosen to turn Location History on, you’ll receive periodic email reminders that let you know what data you’re saving, and ways you can manage it. 


To learn more about Location History and how location works across Google, visit ourpolicy page


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