How to Remove Personal Information from Google Search Results
In a perfect world, removing your information from search results would be as easy as dropping a file in a cyber trash can. Unfortunately, the internet is a precarious place, and anything that goes “live” has the potential to spread to other sites and social media profiles.
Personal information to be worried about
It may sound a bit alarmist, but the truth is, you can’t control everything that happens online. You may be (rightfully) worried if something very personal has been leaked on the web, including:
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Your social security number
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Your credit card or debit card numbers
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Your bank account information
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Information about an unreleased product or service
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Personal photos, videos, or other media
Limiting exposure of personal information
Ready for some good news? Although there’s no way to guarantee that someone hasn’t saved your personal information offline somewhere, you can at least provide damage control to limit the exposure of your personal information once it has leaked.
Steps to remove information from the web
Aside from hiring online reputation experts like our team at Reputation X, there are actions you can take on your own to work toward removing web pages with personal information on them. Here’s a flowchart to help you begin, and some more information below it.
Removing from Google or the web?
The first question to ask yourself is whether you’re trying to remove something from Google or another search engine’s results or if you want to remove it from the web altogether.
Each of these options will require a different approach. For example, if your social security number has been leaked on a website and you successfully remove that website from Google search results, people can still access that website if they know the URL or if they use Bing or Yahoo to find the page.
Now, considering that Google is still the most popular search engine among internet users, capturing 75% of market share in 2016, removing your personal information from Google will have a significant effect on who is likely to find it.
Do you own the content?
However, if you want to make certain no one can find your information, you’ll have to take additional steps. When removing personal information from the web, you must first determine if you own the content or not.
For example, if a vindictive roommate or ex-partner logged into your Facebook account and posted your cell phone number to the world, the solution may be simple. You may only have to log into your Facebook account and delete the post or change the section of your profile where the information was made public.
A Facebook account is an example of something you “own” online. Here are some more examples of what you own and therefore control:
- Any social media accounts you’ve set up, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google Plus, Snapchat, or Pinterest.
- Website domains that you own.
- Blogs that you operate on WordPress, Hubspot, Blogger, Weebly, Wix, or another blog site.
If the personal information you want to remove is contained in one of the examples above, you may only need to log into your admin account and delete the information if you’re not sure how to contact the customer service line of your web hosting service for help. This will effectively delete your personal information from the Web, so users can’t find it no matter what method or search engine they use.
If you don’t own or control the site the information is on
However, if your personal information is published on a page you don’t own, you’ll have to work directly with the site owner to remove the content. Here are some examples:
- If another person posted something about you on their Facebook profile, contact that person. If they’re unresponsive, contact Facebook.
- If someone wrote a libelous article about you on a media site, contact the media company. This one can be troublesome, though, often the journalist or blogger was out to get you in the first place.
These situations can be tricky and may require employing an expert or lawyer to help you if the site owner is unable or unwilling to help.
Removing information from Google
Now, regarding removing information only from Google, Google will help you in some cases whether or not you control the content itself. On their troubleshooting site, Google states:
“You can ask Google to remove your sensitive personal information, like your bank account number, or an image of your handwritten signature, or a nude or sexually explicit image or video of you that’s been shared without your consent, from Google search results.”
Legal removal requests
Outside of these circumstances, if something violates the law, you can visit Google’s Legal Removal Requests page to file a request. Examples of content that Google would likely remove include:
- Content pertaining to identity theft
- Copyright infringement
Keep in mind, however, that even if Google removes such content from search results, the content still exists if someone else owns the site on which the content lives.
Removing personal info from Google may seem like a difficult process, and at times, it can be. The truth is, Google’s mission is to make the world’s information “universally accessible and useful.” It’s Google’s very commitment to honesty and transparency that puts certain measures in place about what can and can’t be removed online. But just because you think something ought to be removed doesn’t mean Google does. They routinely refuse removals, and if the removal doesn’t fit a narrowly defined set of items, they may request a court order – and those are expensive to get.
Google isn’t (gasp!) perfect
So while it may seem like a headache to get your personal information removed from search results (or the Web as a whole), keep in mind that it’s these same measures that enable others to find good, quality information about you and your business as well. It’s unfortunate when your information falls into the wrong hands, and we understand how frustrating and scary it can be.
When to Use a Reputation Expert
If it’s too much trouble to take the removal steps on your own, you may consider partnering with an expert in online reputation management. At Reputation X, for example, we take a fully customized and human-powered approach to solving your challenges and improving your online reputation. We can be as comprehensive or focused as you’d like. With our team’s range of expertise, from SEO and PPC to content strategy and online review management, we have enabled hundreds of individuals, businesses, and government organizations to turn their online image around.
Personal information removal FAQs
What types of information will Google remove?
Google will remove the following type of information: social security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, images of signatures, nude or sexually explicit images that were uploaded or shared without consent.
What information will Google not remove?
Google usually doesn’t remove information such as birthdays, addresses, or telephone numbers.
How do I remove content from Google or the web?
There are different content removal strategies for different goals. Sometimes, content can be removed at the source by requesting the author to remove it. If that’s not possible, you can run a suppression campaign to push negative content further down in Google search results where it is less likely to be seen.
Tags: Business Reputation Repair, Individual Reputation Repair, Online Reputation Repair, Reputation Management, Reputation Protection.
