Google offers a free, automated service called "Results About You," designed to help users remove sensitive personal data from its search results. This crucial tool addresses privacy concerns related to data brokers, which compile and sell personal information like names, home addresses, and phone numbers online. Such practices can expose individuals to risks from telemarketers, identity thieves, or other unauthorized parties.
Functionality
The "Results About You" service empowers users to request the removal of their personal information when it appears in Google search results. This is particularly relevant as Google's continuous internet scraping can inadvertently gather sensitive details from data brokers.
Upon activation, the service sends email notifications to users when it identifies their name, email, phone number, or address in search results. Users can then review these findings and initiate a removal request with a single click. For users in the United States, the tool offers enhanced capability to flag Social Security Numbers, passport details, and driver's license information.
While using the automated notification and removal features requires a Google account, a manual process is also available. Individuals who independently discover sensitive information in search results can use this manual option, which does not require a Google account.
Significance
Thorin Klosowski, a security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), described the tool as a crucial and user-friendly privacy resource.
Despite its noted utility, only a small percentage of Google users currently engage with the service. Google has recently introduced updates aimed at improving the tool's functionality and reach.