As part of Safer Internet Day, Google Search is rolling out a pair of updates to Results about you and the non-consensual explicit images removal tool.
Results about you can already remove Search results containing your phone number, email, or home address. This is now expanding to government-issued IDs: driver’s license, passport, and Social Security number.
Removing this information from Google Search doesn’t remove it from the web entirely, but this is an important step in helping you stay in control of your online presence and keep your private information private.
To access, go to goo.gle/resultsaboutyou or tap your profile image in the Google app to find “Results about you.”
Add the information you want removed, with Google notifying you when something is found. When that happens, you can “Request to remove.” More information about that process, including privacy, is available here.
This expanded capability is available first in the US, with plans for “additional regions” in the future.
Google Search’s second announcement today aims to simplify the removal of non-consensual explicit images. This tool can now be accessed from Google Images’ three-dot overflow menu > Remove result > “It shows a sexual image of me.”
Additionally, you can now “select and submit requests for multiple images from search results in a single, simple form.” Google is also adding an option to “proactively filter out any additional explicit results that might appear in similar searches” (“Future searches”).
Finally, Results about you will let you “track the status of all your requests in one place,” while email notifications provide status updates on removal requests.
These updates are rolling out over the coming days in “most countries” with an expansion coming “soon.”
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments