Google will soon allow users to request that personal data such as phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses be removed from search results.

Michelle Chang, Google’s worldwide policy head for Search, said in a blog post that the company is altering its privacy policies to give users more control over “very personal stuff” that, if made public, might affect them directly.

“Personal contact information is widely available on the internet, and it can be misused in a variety of ways, including for unwanted direct contact or even physical harm. People have also told us that in some circumstances, they’d appreciate the ability to remove this type of material from Search “Chang stated.

How will Google get rid of your personal data?

When you ask Google to remove a piece of information, the business says it will examine and check all content on the Search results page to ensure that the availability of other “generally beneficial” information is not hampered. Google will not erase your personal information if your contact information exists on public websites, such as government websites.

Will your data be completely erased?

No. Even if Google accepts requests for content removal and deletes personal information as a result, the same information – or a portion of it – will not disappear from the internet, according to Google. When you request removal from Google Search, the search engine will no longer retain your personal information, but the source from which it came will still have it intact. You’ll have to contact the hosting site directly to request that the content be completely removed from the internet.

Even if the content is removed from the hosting website, there is no guarantee that your information will be completely removed from the internet. There are other search engines, like Google, that get their data from comparable hosts. Many of these engines still do not allow users to request that content be removed, so just because your information is taken from Google Search does not guarantee it is also removed from other websites.

Google already has a policy in place that allows anyone under the age of 18 to request that their photographs be removed from Google Search results. “We’re continuously searching for innovative ways to make sure our policies and built-in safeguards are up to date and simple to use,” Chang added.