Google Will Protect Your Personal Info Better

Google reports it’s adding new personal information types to the list of hidden search results. Soon it will be impossible for other users to extract your home address, passwords, and passwords from web pages that may contain this information in one form or another. More details are below. 

Safer Now

The new security feature is an upgraded version of the search block that removed search information that could let other malicious parties steal users’ money or identity. After the recent update, you can request Google to remove specific URL addresses that could potentially give hackers a hint on where to look for your sensitive personal information and account credentials. 

 

As Google says in the blog post about the new feature, it’s attempting to provide users with new options to keep up with the ever-evolving Internet. The company adds that the visibility of your address or phone number is potentially dangerous today. Here is a full list of personal info you can request to be removed from the search (the new items are the first three):

• Photos or scans of ID documents;

• Logins from websites;

• Any personal contact information;

• Numbers of bank accounts and cards;

• Government ID numbers;

• Photos or scans of signatures;

• All kinds of confidential official records, including medical records;

• Personal intimate and explicit images or videos published without your consent, including deepfakes, photoshopped images, etc. 

The new data removal policy is said to be much more flexible and lets people request their info to be removed and Google will do it by deciding whether the information is of public interest or not. 

High Bar

Although the policy update generally looks good, it’s still not as simple as the system implemented by Google in the EU. People can request the removal of any unwanted links from the search, while US citizens can ask Google to cover only very sensitive information. What do you think about the new policy? Is it fair and flexible enough or the US needs to adopt the EU approach? Let’s chat in the comments and don’t forget to share the news with friends.