Overview
You can now set up alerts for whenever your home address, phone number, and email address appears in Search. There is a mind-blowing feature in GOOGLE, “Results about you”, launched in 2022. This tool help people remove personal info from the company’s search results. It might be shocking but very easy to get find your private phone number or home address indexed for the world to see, through google search.
Google updates to “Results about you” making it easier to discover when your data pops up in Search. Instead of proactively finding the links of sites hosting your personal data to report and request the removal of identifiable information, you can now set up alerts for whenever your email, home address, and phone number appear on Google. Important - At first, this update will only be available in the US and scan for results just in English.
How to access?
“Results about you” is accessible in your browser or through the mobile app.
Go to “Results about you” page.
In the Google app:
Log in to the Google app.
To open the menu, click your Google Account avatar.
From the menu, select Results about you.
From mobile web or desktop:
Log in to your Google account.
To open the menu, click your Google Account avatar.
From the menu, select Manage your Google Account Data & privacy.
In the “History settings,” select My Activity Other activity.
Scroll down to the “Results about you” section, and select “Manage results about you.”
Select Get started or Settings.
Enter your name and the contact info that you want to find in search results.
Set up notifications.
RECOMMENDATION
Ensure to use this tools to get proactive alerts
Request is not guaranteed; Google may do nothing, remove, or completely erase the result.
You can request removal of personal info like SSNs, credit cards, signatures, medical records, and logins.
To completely erase data, contact the owner or hosting service of the webpage.
Also, Consider a paid service like DeleteMe to combat online doxxing.
Conclusion and security impact
Google improved privacy controls by simplifying personal info removal and offering proactive notifications. "Results about you" is a helpful free tool.
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