Now You’ll Be Able to Request Removal of Personal Data from Google Search Results

Privacy protection is still the motto of the day when it comes to Internet services. Google takes a new step towards this direction and now lets users take steps towards protecting their sensitive data. If you find your personal information online, you can request its removal from search results, and if Google responds positively, your phone number and street address will become ungooglable.

The list of data that you can want removed includes not only phone numbers, bank accounts, or street addresses. You can also apply for removing your document scans or handwritten signature images, medical records, etc. These also qualify as sensitive data that can be instrumental in fraud. If Google satisfies your request (which requires some reviewal and isn’t granted), it can either remove all the URLs you report from its results or just those containing your name.

This doesn’t mean that celebrities and public persons, like politicians or religious leaders, can remove any information that they find compromising. Google specifies that the information it can hide from search includes only sensitive and personally identifying data that can be used for fraud, stalking, harassment, etc.

Neither will it block pages that contain this information. Anyone who knows the URL may type it directly and get right to the page. But if someone searches for your phone or credit card number online, Google won’t provide it after reviewing your request. Even if Google blacklists these pages with Chrome, fraudsters and stalkers can just use other browsers.

Have you ever found your personal data online where it shouldn’t have been? What actions did you take to remove it from there? Was it successful? Do you think this initiative by Google will make your private life protection better? Let’s discuss it in the comment section!