According to 9to5Google, Google is releasing a tool that makes it easier to remove search results that include your address, phone number, and other personally identifiable information.
It debuted the “results about you” feature in May at I/O 2022, describing it as a way to “help you easily control whether your personally-identifiable information can be found in Search results.”
If you see a result that includes your phone number, home address, or email address, you can select it by clicking the three-dot menu at the top right.
This brings up the standard “About this result” panel, but there’s a new “Remove result” option at the bottom of the screen. According to a dialog, if the result contains one of those three items, “we can review your request more quickly.”
Users can also monitor the request in a new menu item in the Google app called “Results about you,” available by tapping their user profile at the top right. The progress of requests can also be monitored through filters “All requests,” “In progress” and “Approved.”
The same page also lets you make a new request with a “Why would you like to remove this result” step. Options there include “It shows my personal contact info,” “It shows my contact into with an intent to harm me,” “It shows other personal info,” “It contains illegal info” and “It’s outdated.” Previously, though, Google has said that not all requests may be granted:
“It’s important to note that when we receive removal requests, we will evaluate all content on the web page to ensure that we’re not limiting the availability of other information that is broadly useful, for instance in news articles.
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“And of course, removing contact information from Google Search doesn’t remove it from the web, which is why you may wish to contact the hosting site directly, if you’re comfortable doing so.”
According to 9to5Google, the new feature is only available to a small number of users in the United States and Europe (I have yet to see it in France, despite being in the Google app beta).
Meanwhile, you can remove other personally identifiable information or doxxing content from Google Search by submitting a removal request — more information is available here.
