How we — and our identifying information — appear on Google not just brings reputational risk, but powerful personal branding opportunities. It is also an issue of cybersecurity and personal privacy. With just a quick search of your name, it’s easy for bad actors to access your personal data like your home address.
Solving this privacy conundrum has long been at the top of security experts’ minds. What is the best way to scrub this sensitive information from Google searches for your name?
Well, the good news is that Google has stepped up by giving users more options for safeguarding their privacy.
In a new blog post, Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced the Silicon Valley giant is making strides to give you greater control over how this identifiable information can be discovered. Chang says the company already had policies in place that gave users the option “to request the removal of certain content from Search, with a focus on highly personal content, that if public, can cause direct harm to people.” That being said, an ever more complex Internet means Google has to offer better tools.
Chang writers that users can now request removals of information like phone numbers, physical addresses, and email addresses from Search. Additionally, Google enables users to remove other information that could pose a risk for identity threat, such as publicly listed confidential log-in credentials.
“The availability of personal contact information online can be jarring — and it can be used in harmful ways, including for unwanted direct contact or even physical harm,” Chang writes.
Google’s moves address a need that has previously resulted in costly fixes. Many have resorted to services to remove this private data, ranging in cost from $200 to $1,000+ annually.
On his popular blog, security expert Brian Krebs explains the new Google tools come on the heels of recent policy changes that helped people under the age of 18 — or their parents or guardians — “request removal of their images from Google search results.” Clearly, the search titan is taking privacy seriously, especially when we are seeing a growing wave of hacks, ransomware attacks, and identity theft scams.
Krebs tested the new policy himself. He requested that Google remove search results for BriansClub — a cybercrime scam hub that has long abused his likeness and name. He’ll update his readers once he hears back.
For all of us, our personal data is the most precious information out there. To keep ourselves, our families and loved ones — and our digital brands! — safe, Google’s privacy push is a welcome move forward.