Google can now alert you when your private contact info appears online

Google now offers a more convenient solution for locating and eliminating your personal contact information from its search results. The company has introduced notifications that alert you whenever it discovers your address, phone number, or email online. This allows you to review the information and request its removal from Google Search.

All of this can be done through Google’s “results about you” dashboard, which was initially introduced in September last year and is accessible on both mobile and web platforms. With this update, you no longer need to conduct the search yourself; instead, the dashboard automatically identifies websites containing your personal information. You can then review each webpage where it appears and submit a removal request if necessary.

This represents a significant improvement over Google’s previous process, which required individuals to search for their personal information manually and then request its removal themselves.

If you’re concerned about future appearances of your information on Google, you can also enable push notifications to receive alerts about new results. This feature was initially announced last year. Furthermore, you can monitor the progress of your removal requests through Google’s hub, which displays the status of each request (in-progress, approved, denied, or undone).

It’s important to note that removing your information from Google doesn’t guarantee its complete erasure from the internet. If someone comes across the webpage where your information was originally found, they can still access it. Additionally, Google has certain limitations on the types of search results it can remove and will not take action regarding results from governments or educational institutions.

Nevertheless, this update significantly speeds up the process of discovering and removing personal information from Google, which is particularly crucial for victims of doxxing. Currently, the feature is being rolled out in English initially, with plans to make it available in other countries and languages in the near future.