Current:Home > StocksYou can now ask Google to take your personal data out of its search results-LoTradeCoin
You can now ask Google to take your personal data out of its search results
View Date:2024-12-23 19:48:59
Google is offering a new tool to anyone who doesn't want their phone number, email or street address and other personal information to be found online: People can ask for their contact details to be stripped from search results.
"The availability of personal contact information online can be jarring," said Michelle Chang, Google's global policy lead for search, as she recently announced the change. She noted that the data could result in "unwanted direct contact or even physical harm."
The new policy sharply lowers Google's bar for removing data from search results. While it previously offered to scrub personal and financial information in cases of a real or potential threat — such as doxxing or identity theft — the company says people can now ask for their information to be removed even if there's no clear risk.
You can fill out a form to take your contact info out of search results
Anyone wanting to submit a removal request can use a special online form that walks users through the process. It asks for things like the URL of any webpages displaying your personal data, along with the search terms and URL of the Google search you used to find those pages. It also recommends including screenshots.
"It's important to remember that removing content from Google Search won't remove it from the internet, which is why you may wish to contact the hosting site directly, if you're comfortable doing so," Chang said.
Even with the changes, there are still a few reasons Google might deny a removal request. They mainly deal with information that is deemed "broadly useful" or part of the public record, such as newsworthy data or material that's posted to government sites or other official outlets.
Along with contact information, you can ask Google to remove results that include login credentials and other sensitive data.
Google also recently changed its policy on photos of minors
Google is expanding its policy around protecting personal information because users requested the change, Chang said. Noting the chance for malicious use of such data, she said the service is evolving along with the internet.
The new search policy comes six months after Google made another change to allow minors or their caregivers to request their images be removed from its search results. That shift came as Google and other tech companies faced criticism over their policies toward children and minors.
One of the largest early adjustments for Google's search tools came from Europe, where a Spanish man's case established the "right to be forgotten" in 2014. In the four years that followed, Google said, people made more than 650,000 requests to remove specific websites from its search results.
Editor's note: Google is among NPR's financial sponsors.
veryGood! (35)
Related
- Mike Tyson-Jake Paul: How to watch the fight, time, odds
- These Towel Scrunchies With 8,100+ 5-Star Reviews Dry My Long Hair in 30 Minutes Without Creases
- Alpine avalanche in Italy leaves 7 known dead
- Check Out the Harry Potter Stars, Then & Now
- What Just Happened to the Idea of Progress?
- Why even environmentalists are supporting nuclear power today
- Pregnant Peta Murgatroyd and Maks Chmerkovskiy Surprise Son With Puppy Ahead of Baby's Arrival
- The Lilo & Stitch Ohana Is Growing: Meet the Stars Joining Disney's Live-Action Movie
- Prominent conservative lawyer Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies
- With time ticking for climate action, Supreme Court limits ways to curb emissions
Ranking
- Oklahoma school district adding anti-harassment policies after nonbinary teen’s death
- Kerry Washington, LeBron James and More Send Messages to Jamie Foxx Amid Hospitalization
- A record amount of seaweed is choking shores in the Caribbean
- See Khloe Kardashian's Daughter True Thompson All Grown Up on 5th Birthday
- Steelers' Mike Tomlin shuts down Jayden Daniels Lamar comparison: 'That's Mr. Jackson'
- Floods are getting more common. Do you know your risk?
- Get 2 MAC Cosmetics Extended Play Mascaras for the Price of 1
- Why We Will See More Devastating Floods Like The Ones In Kentucky
Recommendation
-
Horoscopes Today, November 9, 2024
-
India begins to ban single-use plastics including cups and straws
-
What is the legacy of burn pits? For some Iraqis, it's a lifetime of problems
-
Wild Horses Could Keep Wildfire At Bay
-
After years of unrest, Commanders have reinvented their culture and shattered expectations
-
Why scientists have pumped a potent greenhouse gas into streams on public lands
-
Florals For Spring That Are Groundbreaking, Thank You Very Much
-
Influencer Camila Coehlo Shares the Important Reason She Started Saying No