Buzz
What risks could occur?
Instances of information theft ('doxing' or 'doxxing') are increasing. This is when personal information of you and your loved ones is gathered and posted online with the intention of harassment and threats. A recent example is the attempted assassination of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh a few months ago. The perpetrator admitted to finding his home address on the Internet.
Currently, the main targets of this behavior are celebrities, but that doesn't mean it won't happen to ordinary people. While not directly threatened with physical attacks, many have had their addresses and photos of their homes posted online just to cause panic and fear. This inevitably raises concerns about larger dangers, especially when it involves family members.
What to do when everyone can look up your information?
In addition to increasing security measures and verifying accounts online, users can utilize Google's 'Remove information from Google' tool. This is a new tool developed by Google. Information that can be hidden from search results includes credit card numbers, handwritten signatures, ID photos, and so on.
First, you need to visit the Google Help Search page (support.google.com) to select 'Remove information from Google'.
Next, you can select the type of information you want to remove, for example:
Then, press the 'Start request to remove' button.
Here, you can follow step-by-step instructions to fill out the removal request form, specifying what information you want to delete, from where, and so on.
Currently, you are required to provide the URL to the web page containing the information you want to hide. However, Google states that in a few months, this tool will also allow you to list the web pages containing the information you want to hide, making everything more convenient.
What to do when Google denies the request to hide information?
After receiving the request, Google will review search results coming from publicly accessible websites. It is known that they usually reject hiding search results from official government websites or publicly available news sites.
Remember, this information isn't actually deleted from the website but only hidden from search results by Google. People can still access it if they know the website address or use other search tools. In that case, you'll have to directly contact the website owner. Tools like Who.is can help you find some basic information like server details and contact information for the server to proceed further.
The demand for 'online invisibility' has grown to the point where it has become an opportunity for third-party services to emerge. For example, in the US, there are tools like DeleteMe or NortonLifeLock, aimed at helping users who don't have much time to deal with these procedures.
References: Wall Street Journal, Google Help
