Google has confirmed that it is expanding the personal information data it is willing to delete if requested to do so by the affected party. In this way, the company is committed to remove data such as postal address from search results, telephone number or platform passwords.
Google pledges to remove any personal information that appears in its search engine, such as mailing address or phone number
So far, this commitment by Google to remove personal information was limited to data that could be used to steal identity or money of a user. Now, anyone can ask Google to stop displaying in their search results certain links that show information that could lead a third party to know where the person concerned lives or to gain access to their accounts.
As explained by Google in a post on its official blog, this decision responds to its intention to give new options to its users. “The Internet is always changing,” they argue, which is why they believe that the possibility of finding a person’s mailing address or phone number in a search engine can be dangerous. To ask Google to remove a phone number or address from searches just access this link.
With this update, the list of the types of information Google is willing to remove is as follows: official document identification numbers, bank account or credit card numbers, photos of handwritten signatures or identity documentsmedical records, personal contact details and passwords to access platforms. In addition, Google has pledged to remove other types of content such as “intimate images that have not been uploaded with consent”, “pornographic deepfakes” or Photoship montages that denigrate a person.
Google reminds, however, that removing this data from search results will not remove it from the Internet. Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has made a very similar decision two weeks ago. The company will no longer allow users to share home address information on their profiles. This is even if this information is openly available on the network.
