How to remove your personal information from Google’s search results
There’s a good chance that if you Google yourself, your name and information like social media links might pop out, especially if you’re someone who posts publicly on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Medium quite often.
But sometimes you might appear in Google search results for the wrong reasons, maybe you have been hacked or doxxed and now your personal and private information has been posted in forums that can be easily searched for, now what?
The best way to go about it would be to reach out to the website that published your information and ask them to take it down, but if they don’t respond or refuse to for whatever reason, your next best bet would be Google where you can actually request to have your personal information removed from search, and here’s how you can go about doing it.
Request to remove personal information from Google Search
- Go to Google’s website and see what kind of information is eligible to be removed
- If you meet the criteria for removal, go to Google’s removal request page
- You will be present two options, but only the “Remove information you see in Google Search” option is something that Google can actively act on
- You’ll then have to choose to either remove information “In Google’s search results and on a website” or “Only in Google’s search results”, so make your choice and then fill out the request forms accordingly and submit any documentation or information that Google is asking for to complete the process
Once your request has been submitted, you will receive a confirmation email to acknowledge that your request has been received. This is an automated response and it doesn’t mean that Google has already removed your information from search results.
Each request will then be reviewed and according to Google, in some instances they might reach out for additional information in case what you submitted wasn’t enough. Once the review is complete, users will then be notified of the outcome.
Keep in mind that not every request submitted will be processed successfully, so even if you submit a request, it might not necessarily be granted. Google says that even if your request is denied, they will provide a brief explanation as to why. Users are free to resubmit their requests later if they have additional materials that might better support their case.