Sci-Fi Labs · Essay

One prompt. Your own life map.

Google has been quietly recording where you go for years. Most people never realize how much is sitting there. Here’s how to take it back and turn it into something that actually belongs to you.

Google already knows where you’ve been

For a long time, if you used Google Maps or had location services turned on, Google was saving a detailed record of where you went. Not just the big trips. The coffee shops. The routes to work. The weekends away. It all went into something called Timeline (sometimes still labeled Location History).

A lot of people never looked at it. Some didn’t even know the feature existed. For years it was on by default for many accounts. The result is that millions of people now have years of their real movement sitting in Google’s systems — or still sitting on their phones after Google moved the data to the device.

That data is yours. The problem is that most of us never actually take it back. It stays locked inside Google’s world instead of becoming something we can explore, keep, or build with.

This is part of a bigger idea: reclaiming your data. Getting the records of your own life out of the platforms that collected them, and putting them under your control.

What if that record became a map you own?

I built a project called Where is Paul? that takes real location history and turns it into an interactive globe and timeline. You can spin the world, scrub through time, click on places, and see the shape of a life in motion.

The same idea can work for anyone. You don’t need to be a developer. You just need two things:

1. Your own Google Maps Timeline export
2. One short prompt that tells an AI to use the live site as a template and make a version for you

The prompt

Copy everything in the box below and paste it into Grok, Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI that can build web apps.

Build me a personal life map like this one: https://paulvisciano.com/apps/where-is-paul

Use the live site as the template. Make it mine — rename it to “Where is [My Name]?” and set it up so I can drop in my own Google Maps Timeline export and have the globe and timeline fill with my places automatically.

That’s it. The AI uses the existing public site as the model and builds a version that runs on your data.

How to get your Google Maps Timeline data

Google changed how this works. A few years ago the data mostly lived on their servers. Starting in late 2024 they moved a lot of it onto the phone itself. So there are two places to look.

1. From your phone (recent trips)

Android

Open your phone’s Settings app, then go to:

Location → Location services → Timeline

You’ll see a screen like this:

1. Tap Export Timeline data
2. Tap Continue and choose where to save the file
3. You’ll get a file named Timeline.json

iPhone

• Open the Google Maps app
• Tap your profile picture (top right)
• Go to Settings → Personal content (or Location & Privacy)
• Tap Export Timeline data → Save to Files

2. From Google Takeout (older history)

1. Go to takeout.google.com and sign in.
2. Click “Deselect all.”
3. Find and check only Location History (Timeline).
4. Choose JSON and create the export.
5. Google will email you a download link. Unzip the file when it arrives.

If you want the fullest picture, do both. Older data often still lives in Takeout; newer data is usually on the device.

Why this matters

The point isn’t just a pretty globe. It’s about who holds the record of your life. For years that record sat inside Google. Most people never asked for a copy. Now the tools exist to pull it out and turn it into something you can actually use and keep.

Your data stays on your machine if you run the finished app locally. The public Where is Paul? site is just the example. The version built from your own Timeline is the one that belongs to you.

This is the practical side of reclaiming your data — not just deleting accounts or changing settings, but taking the actual history of where you’ve been and making it yours again.

What to do next

1. Copy the prompt above.
2. Paste it into any AI that can build web apps.
3. Export your Timeline data using the steps in this post.
4. Drop the file into the app the AI creates.
5. Open it in a browser and explore your own map.

If you want to see the polished, multi-year version of the same idea, the live reference is here: Where is Paul?