Google announced this week, that it is adding more to the type of data that people can ask Google to have removed from the search results. With this, you can ask Google to remove information including your phone number, email address or physical address from their search results.
Prior to this, Google had just implemented a new policy which enabled people under the age of 18 (or a guardian/parent) to request removal of their pictures from the search results.
Google now supports the removal of Personal Contact Information (Physical address, Phone Number, email address) which adds to the list of the following details which are called Personally Identifiable Information (PII) including:
- Confidential government identification (ID) numbers such as U.S Social Security Number, Tax ID numbers, etc.
- Credit card numbers
- Bank Account numbers
- Images of handwritten signatures
- Images of ID docs
- Confidential login credentials
- Highly personal, restricted, and official records, such as medical records
- and now, Personal Contact Information (Physical address, Phone Number, email address)
Objective of the move
The main objective of the move is to ensure that people are protected from potential harm such as identity theft and that sensitive information of the users, such as Bank Account number, credit card details, phone number and address etc. are not available in the wild for anyone to see.
While the removal of the the content from the search result does nothing much than remove it from the search index and the content will still remain on the main website on which it is hosted, delinking it from the google search result will definitely reduce its visibility and exposure.
Steps to request removal of Personal details from search history
So, if you want your personal details to be not displayed in a search result, you need to specify that you want Google to remove “Imagery of an individual currently under the age of 18” and provide some personal information, the image URLs and search queries that would surface the results.
Google has announced that they have made it easy for the user to request the removal of their details as the user need not provide any proof that the image or the search result were involved in a malicious activity. One can also submit requests to remove non-consensual explicit or intimate personal images from Google, along with involuntary fake pornography images.
As seen in the image below displaying the Google page where we can request for removal, simply click on the Blue button with the text “Start Removal Request”. For easy access, I have included the link to the page HERE. Just click on the link, which will lead you to the google’s page and click on the Blue button with the text “Start Removal Request”.
Upon clicking on the button, you will be taken to a page where you will have the option to express your wish on what information you would want google to delete, where are the information posted ( whether in a search result, or on a partical website etc., and other options. You will need to read through and then sign and submit your request for removal of personal information from google search results.
After receiving the removal request, Google will evaluate the website to ensure that removing it will not hamper the readers from obtaining a wholesome information, which is of useful nature. Following that, any information found in unregulated spaces, Google will remove the information that you requested. Also, Google won’t be removing articles which are hosted from official or Government sources.