Google has included new categories of personally identifiable information (PII) which people can request to be taken out from its search results.
Google has included new categories of personally identifiable information (PII) that people can request to be removed from its search results. The company has offered the option to delete personal information from search results for several years, but requests were only accepted in situations of doxxing or financial fraud. However, the newest update to Google's policy will now enable people to request the deletion of many other types of information.
Google is the globe's biggest online search service provider, with a mind-boggling 8.5 billion searches in just a day. Google is also the most-visited site in the world and has a bigger share of the global search market than its competitors like DuckDuckGo, Bing, and Yahoo combined. For all its market supremacy, however, Google has usually faced the wrath of activists for its privacy practices and has often been under the scrutiny of world regulators for its business practices.
According to a particular blog article, Google will now delete several new categories of information from its search results when requested, including personal contact information that could potentially bring about privacy issues and confidential log-in credentials that can pose a risk to identity theft. In Google-speak, personal contact information comprises addresses, phone numbers, and email IDs, all of which Google says it will delete from its search results upon request. The company will also now remove images of ID documents, such as drivers licenses, social security cards, passports, etc. To request the deletion of personal information, users will need to head over to this page, fill in the application form by providing the necessary details and submit the request. The user does not have to be logged into their Google account to gain access to the form or submit the request, and the contact email does not have to be a Gmail address.
Google's New Search Policy
Once the request is completed and submitted, Google will send out an automated email confirmation and then review the request manually before deciding on a future plan of action. Once a decision is taken, the complainant will get an email notification of any action taken. In case the request is not granted, Google says it will offer a brief explanation for the denial. Prior to the latest decision. Google already removed images of minors, U.S. social security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, images of handwritten signatures, medical reports, and more. In addition, the company also deletes "non-consensual explicit or intimate personal images" and deepfakes or Photoshops of an explicit nature.
It is worth noting that deleting information from Google search results does not actually remove the information from the internet. The information seen on Google search results typically resides on third-party platforms or websites, so people accessing that particular site or webpage directly will still be able to access the content. Also, Google's new policy is very varied from the EU's right-to-be-forgotten regulation that requires search engines to remove any result that a user issues a take-down request for, even if it is only because they find the information to be inconvenient or unflattering. Google's new policy only deals with sensitive information, which means if it does no affect someone's privacy, Google will not remove it from its search results.
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