To let users take off any of their personal information from the search results, Google is offering a tool in its Android app – where users can easily request the removal.
This can be accessed by going to your three-dot menu aside from the search result and proceeding with the removal request. You may also mention how it’s endangering you, thus better justifying the cause. This is available for a small number of users in the US and Europe, with more regions yet to be added.
PII Removal Request in Google Search Results
Having your personally identifiable information, like the photos, contact details, or even login credentials of some accounts you own – showing up in public without your permission is a nightmare. To counter that from happening in its search results, Google has offered a way for legit users to take down their data from public sources.
While this takedown process has been for a while now, Google, in this year’s I/O event, said it’s revamping the process to include more information and make it easier to do remove on request. Now, as promised, it came up with a tool in the Google Android app – that’ll let users request the removal of their PII easily.
Here's the page that appears when you tap "Results about you" and the tutorial it takes you through when you tap "Learn how". pic.twitter.com/0VQmfD1YJx
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 21, 2022
So whenever you find something concerning to you in the Google search results, you can tap on the three-dot menu to see the new ‘Remove Result‘ option. Tapping on it will take you to a new page explaining how you can request the removal of Search results with PII.
Once you submit your request, you can monitor the progress of takedown within the ‘Results about you‘ section of the Google app. And if you have multiple submissions, you can filter the requests as All requests, In progress, and Approved filters to track them more easily.
Also, you can even mention a specific reason in the process to justify how the result is bothering you. This feature is now available in the latest beta version of the Google app for a small number of users in the U.S. and Europe. More regions and users may soon follow.
