Users Can Now Ask Google to Remove Search Results Containing Personal Information

After a recent update, users can now ask Google to remove more personally identifiable information from search results. People can already ask Google to remove results that contain personal information and can lead to identity theft or fraud, such as credit card numbers and bank account numbers. Your contact information, such as your email address, phone number, and physical address, has now been added to the list.

Users Can Now Ask Google to Remove Search Results Containing Personal Information

In a blog post published on Wednesday, Michelle Chang, Google’s global policy lead for search, wrote,

The availability of personal contact information online can be jarring — and it can be used in harmful ways, including for unwanted direct contact or even physical harm.

Google will now also eliminate search results that contain information that could be hacked, such as login IDs and passwords. These results aren’t automatically removed. Individuals must submit a request that includes a list of URLs that lead to sensitive material as well as search pages that reveal those linkages. Google will then decide if removing them restricts access to information already in the public domain or whether they are part of anything “broadly helpful,” such as a news piece.

“In such cases, we won’t make removals,” Chang stated.

Based on the content and context, Google may delete the links from all search results or just results that mention your name. Even if the company agrees to delete your information from search results, Chang points out that this does not imply that it will be removed from the internet. Someone could still find your information by going directly to the website.

The new guidelines come after a policy change in October 2021 that allowed children — or their parents — to request that their photographs be removed from Google Search results.

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