Through personal or professional social networks, dating sites, online shopping pages, or streaming services, it is common to share a wealth of personal information and preferences, including city of residence, place of birth, birthdates, phone numbers, photos, videos, musical tastes… All of this is done in order to stay connected or strengthen connections with other users of these online spaces.
Generally, each platform has protection policies for the most sensitive information; however, unauthorized access by third parties or user acceptance can cause this private data to circulate not only within a specific community but also outside it. Even after the account from which it was disclosed has been deleted.
What is the risk of sharing personal data online?
The result is that this data can appear in Google search results or even in other online information search engines like Bing or Yahoo. This can lead to third parties obtaining confirmation information of personal identity, such as birthdates, phone numbers, or the city of birth, thereby increasing the risk of identity theft.
How to prevent your personal data from appearing on Google
Fortunately, in the particular case of Google, there is a way to request the removal of information referring to a person in its search results. This includes personal images with explicit sexual content or pornography associated with a name or identification related to a person, even if it’s fake (fake pornography images).
You can also request the removal of credit card numbers, images of identity documents, signature images, as well as personal contact information (phone numbers or email addresses). The procedure is as follows.
Go to the Request personal content removal from Google Search page from your computer or mobile browser.
Select one of the four reasons displayed on the screen. Next, select your country of residence and click Next.
Specify the information you want to be removed and click Next. To continue the process, provide evidence that corroborates the accuracy of your request. This can include screenshots, web links, etc.
Google’s staff handling the matter will review your request and notify you of their decision within the timeframe specified in their complaints protocol. If you disagree with the decision, you have the opportunity to appeal.
Finally, note that this procedure only affects Google search results. It does not apply to other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo that may display your personal content in their search results. However, you have the option to initiate a similar process with each of them.