Google’s ‘Results About You’ Tool Can Now Help Users Protect Their ID Numbers

Google’s Results about you tool, which lets users find and request the removal of their personal information from search results, is being updated to be more comprehensive. Over the coming days, US users will be able to ask it to find and remove government IDs, including passports, social security numbers, and driver’s licenses.

In practice, users can simply add the ID numbers they want the tool to check if they show up in search results. “To prevent misuse, we store your personal info in accordance with Google’s high standards for sensitive personally identifiable information, which includes advanced encryption and access controls,” Google said in an FAQ.

After confirming the details, Google can notify users by email or via the Google mobile app if search results show their ID numbers. However, it’s still up to users to request the removal of that information from Google’s search results, and it won’t make it disappear from the web: That’s unfortunately out of Google’s control.

Besides these improvements to Google’s ‘Results about you’ tool, the company also announced today that it has simplified the process for requesting the removal of non-consensual explicit images from Search. Now, users just need to click on the three dots on an image, select ‘remove result,’ then select ‘It shows a sexual image of me’. The new process also allows users to get ongoing protection for other explicit results that may appear in similar searches.