Google has allowed users to request the removal of certain information from Google Search, but it now appears to be expanding its privacy efforts by supporting the removal of even more personal information.
Until now, Google's efforts have focused primarily on removing data that could be used for identity theft, such as credit cards, addresses, etc., but from now on, users of the service can request the removal of entries even when the their names or the email addresses they use.
"For many years, users could request the removal of certain sensitive, personally identifiable information from Google Search - for example, in some cases Doxing or collecting information such as bank account or credit card numbers that could be used for financial fraud, ”says Google.
"Under the new policy extension, users can now request the removal of additional types of information when they find it in search results, such as personal contact information, such as a phone number, email address or a physical address. The policy also allows the removal of additional information that may pose a risk of identity theft, such as confidential login credentials, when displayed in search results. ”
But Google says that even if it removes some information from appearing in search results, it does not mean that it removes it from the web.
So the company states that users who see their data somewhere on the web will have to go directly to the hosting site if they want to remove it.
"When we receive content removal requests, we will evaluate the entire content of the website to ensure that we do not restrict the availability of other information that is generally useful, for example in news articles. We will also evaluate whether the content appears as part of a public post on the websites of government or official sources. In such cases, we will not make deductions ", says Google.
