If you’ve noticed your Google Maps Timeline looking suspiciously empty, you’re not alone. Users across Reddit have been sounding the alarm, and now, Google has finally confirmed what many feared: Timeline data has been accidentally deleted. And here’s the kicker—if you weren’t using Google’s cloud backup, your data is gone for good.
In a statement making the rounds, Google acknowledged the mishap and offered a potential lifeline for some. If you had cloud backup enabled, you might still be able to restore your lost locations. To check, open Google Maps on iOS or Android, tap your user icon, navigate to “Your timeline,” and look for the cloud icon. If it has an arrow inside, your backup is on. If there’s a line through it, you’re out of luck.
This all ties back to Google’s decision last summer to shift Timeline data to on-device storage. The move, intended to give users more control over their location history and enhance privacy, also introduced an unintended risk—data loss. Now, Google’s “technical issue” has made that risk a reality. Worse still, while you can export your location history as a file, there’s no simple way to reimport it if you weren’t using cloud backups.
For privacy-conscious users, this was supposed to be a win. Instead, it’s a stark reminder that local storage isn’t always foolproof. So, is the trade-off worth it? Or is it time to rethink where we put our trust
