Google launches tool that allows you to request deletion of search results

Google said on Wednesday that it has begun rolling out an option for users to request that search results be deleted with their phone numbers and other sensitive personal information, potentially adding an extra layer of protection for private data online.

The new feature, called “Results About You,” helps simplify the process for US users to request that pages including their home addresses, emails and personal phone numbers be removed from Google search results.

Upon receiving a takedown request, Google will “evaluate all content on the webpage to ensure that we are not limiting the availability of other widely useful information, for example in news articles,” according to a company blog post. May, when the feature was first announced, updated on Wednesday.

Google’s offices are in Midtown Manhattan on October 20, 2020 in New York City.

Accusing the company of using anticompetitive tactics to illegally monopolize the online search and search advertising markets, the Justice Department and 11 states on Tuesday opened an antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Google may choose to remove the page from its search results, but while the information will no longer appear in search results, it will still be online.

“While removing these results does not delete your contact information from the web at large, we are doing everything we can to protect your information in Search,” the company said Wednesday.

Google also plans to introduce an option early next year for users to receive alerts when new search results appear with their contact information.

The new options expand on Google’s previous efforts to help users remove personal contact details from search results to protect against identity theft and doxxing, or the practice of posting private information online to targeted individuals or groups.