Google has announced its next expansion Privacy Tool. The “Decisions About You” tool was first announced in May 2022, designed to protect your personally identifiable information (PII) from being more easily traced. It will soon begin rolling out to a wider audience, and once it’s available, you’ll be able to easily request the deletion of your personal data.
Now inside Search in 22Google shared that it’s expanding this tool with an additional useful feature: the ability to set up alerts if your PII appears on the Internet.
Most of us have Googled our own name at one time or another out of curiosity. Sometimes these searches can return unwanted results. If you search Google yourself and find that your personal information has been shared without your permission, you can ask Google to remove it. Previously, it mainly included bank information and credit card numbers, but earlier this year, Google expanded that collection.
Now, if you find your physical address, phone number and/or email address online, you can ask Google to take care of it for you and remove it. However, with the introduction of the new “Decisions About You” privacy tool, it’s even easier to do. Click the three dots next to the search result to request deletion and track the status of your request.
During Search on the 22nd, Google announced that the feature would start rolling out soon to users in the US using the English search engine, with (presumably) to follow later. Google has revealed that it is taking privacy protection a step further by expanding the tool.
Beginning in 2023, you will be able to set alerts about your personal information appearing in search results. Google will notify you if any new entry of your PII appears so you can request removal as soon as possible. While this doesn’t delete the data from the actual website it originated from, it goes a step further to ensure it’s harder to find.
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