In an era characterized by the increasing intrusion of digital technologies into our private lives, it has become challenging to safeguard our personal information. The vast majority of us have willingly shared our personal details with various websites, be it the social media giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra. In doing so, we’ve provided information like our names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses, at the very least. While these well-known websites often have robust privacy policies, the internet is also teeming with numerous small, dubious websites that fail to adequately protect user data. Furthermore, security breaches and data leaks are not uncommon on even the most reputable websites, potentially exposing our sensitive personal information, including our financial data, to the public. The situation can escalate when this information appears in Google search results. Fortunately, Google is aware of this concern and has taken steps to simplify the process of removing such data. Read on to learn how you can cleanse your online presence from Google’s historical archives.
Purging Your Google History
Google introduced the “Results about you” feature in September last year, as reported by 9to5Google. This feature was developed to streamline the process of removing search results from Google that contain users’ personal information. Google initially unveiled this feature during its 2022 I/O event and later integrated it into the Google app in the latter half of the same year.
Previously, users could request the removal of their personal information, but the procedure was more cumbersome and time-consuming. If a user discovered their phone number, address, or financial data exposed online, they had to navigate to a Google support page and complete a form specifying the URL they wished to be removed from search results. Naturally, it took a considerable amount of time for Google to verify these requests and take action.
With the new “Results about you” tool, users can now initiate removal requests directly from the search results page. Users need only click the three dots located next to the URL text and access the “About this result” page. From there, a simple click on the “Remove result” option will initiate the removal process.
This tool also offers users the ability to monitor the status of their removal requests. Users can access the “Results about you” screen by clicking on their profile picture within the Google app, where they can track the progress of their requests. According to 9to5Google, this screen will also enable users to submit new removal requests for search results.
It’s important to note that this process exclusively removes the indexed information from Google search results. The information can still be accessed by typing the website’s URL directly, as there is currently no comprehensive method to completely erase oneself from Google search indexes or remove your data from all websites in one fell swoop.
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