Google on August 3 announced three new privacy and safety features for Google Search:
- Know when your personal contact info shows up online and request for deletion: Google will alert you if web results with your personal contact information (personal phone number, home address, or email) are showing up on Search, and you can request the company to remove those results. This is an upgrade to the Results About You tool launched in April 2022, which allowed users to request for deletion of personal contact information from Search, but didn’t provide any alerts when any new details resurfaced online. This feature is only available in the US in English to start with and will expand to new languages and locations soon, the company informed.
- Blurring of explicit images on Search results by default: Explicit imagery, such as adult or graphic violent content, will be blurred by default when it appears in Search results. This feature is rolling out for all users globally this month and users can turn it off if they want, unless a guardian or school network administrator has locked the setting.
- Removing personal explicit images: People can now request Google to remove any of their personal, explicit images that they no longer wish to be visible in Search, expanding on its existing policy of allowing users to remove non-consensual explicit imagery from Search. “For example, if you created and uploaded explicit content to a website, then deleted it, you can request its removal from Search if it’s being published elsewhere without approval. This policy doesn’t apply to content you are currently commercializing,” the company explained. Google also informed us that it is simplifying the process for removal requests.
“Of course, removing content from Google Search does not remove it from the web or other search engines, but we hope these changes give you more control over private information appearing in Google Search,” the company added as a caution (emphasis ours).
Why does this matter: These new features give users more control over the visibility of their personal information online. By making it easier to remove such info from Search results, users can eliminate a big discovery point for their personal data.
Could address one of the shortcomings of the DPDP Bill, 2023: Google launched these new features the same day that the Indian government tabled the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2023, which is meant to protect the right to privacy of citizens and provide safeguards for their personal data. Interestingly, one drawback of the DPDP Bill is that it does not apply to publicly shared personal data. This means that if any personal data, such as personal phone number, address, or email were to show up online, it’s fair game for companies to use this personal data without consent from the user. Google’s new feature could limit the exposure of such personal contact info despite the DPDP Bill’s shortcomings.
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Also Read
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