We know you LOVE using data. You probably use it to Google tons of random stuff all day, every day.
But online privacy isn’t always guaranteed! Your personal info might just be one Google search away if you’re not careful.
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Read on on why this isn’t a false alarm, and how you can regain your privacy when #yoodoyou
Tracking your digital footprint
In most countries, the process of tracking your personal info on Google is very tedious.
You’d have to personally Google yourself or make related searches. How’d you even know where to start looking?
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Thankfully, Google’s ‘Results About You’ tool now lets you set up alerts for IF your personal information – such as your home address or phone number – becomes publicly accessible.
This is AWESOME, because the sooner you’re alerted, the quicker you can request their removal.
It’ll be MUCH easier to keep stalkers and scammers away!
But There’s Bad News
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Although the ‘Results About You’ tool is FREE, it has two downsides. The first is that it’s ONLY available in the US… for NOW! It can also only scan for search results in English.
Of course, this will change over time. So while we Malaysians can’t track and remove our personal info on Google as efficiently as the US yet, it’s good to know how it works in advance!
How to use ‘Results About You’
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Once it becomes available, you’ll find the option if you tap your profile icon on your Google account.
From there, just tap ‘Get Started’ and hit the ‘Next’ button TWICE!
You’ll then be moved to a page where you can provide your personal info. This will include four options – your name, home address, phone number and email address.
Now you would just have to enter the info you’d like the tool to scan for and tick the box confirming that the info is ACTUALLY yours.
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Then you start the scan… and the waiting game begins! This could take a few hours or more, but eventually you’ll be able to check the ‘Results to Review’ section to see if any unwanted info about you is public!
You could now make a request for its removal, but do note that it’s just a REQUEST, not an order. Google may decide to do nothing at all.
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Even if the search results DO get removed, that would just mean your personal info is unsearchable on Google.
You’d have to contact the relevant webpage owners if you’d like to have your info removed entirely!