Google announced on Wednesday that it’s updating its “Results about you” tool to make it easier for users to protect and remove their personal information from Search results. The company says it’s improved the sign-up process and simplified requesting removals directly from Google Search.
The tool can be used to proactively monitor and delete things like your phone number, email address, or physical address from Search results.
With this latest update, users can now click the three dots next to a Google Search result to see an updated menu that lets you submit a removal request right away via the “remove this results” option.
In the past, you would have had to navigate to the “Results about you” tool, which was hidden away in your Google account settings.
Plus, users can now use the three-dot menu to request a refresh of their information.
For instance, if you removed content about yourself from a website and Search hasn’t been updated to reflect this, you can request a refresh so that Google’s systems will “recrawl” the page to obtain the latest information.
To use the feature, you need to complete a form to provide your contact information to allow Google to check if it matches the information on a Search results page. You can choose to receive notifications if Google finds results with your information.
The company notes that your information is not shared or used to personalize your experience across Google products.
The feature is available to users in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, France, Sweden, Thailand, India, and Indonesia.
