Google announced at I/O 2022 a new tool to streamline the process of removing search results that contain personally identifiable information (PII) and other contact information that should not be made public. Four months later, the company began deploying the tool, which, in addition to allowing people to protect themselves, is perhaps a response to complying with legislation such as the right to be forgotten.

Starting today, while it may not have reached everyone yet, users can open the Google app on Android and tap on your own avatar located in the upper right corner to reveal a new menu item called “Results About You”which is still in beta.

After completing the “Results About You” procedure the user will be taken through a series of steps that will display related search results and will be able to request removal the ones you don’t want to be public to better protect your personal information. Obviously, the user will have a list of all their requests with “in progress” and “approved” filters, in addition to the same page allowing them to enter a step-by-step request like a tutorial.

Reasons that may be given for removing a search result include displaying personal contact information, exposing personal contact information as an attempt to harm, exposing other personal information, illegal information, and out-of-date information.

Unfortunately, The Internet and the World Wide Web were designed to facilitate the transfer of data and information rather than to protect privacy.. This means that even if a person is very careful about what they enter into forms, they can eventually find their personal information exposed on the Internet and even within the reach of a simple search. The originator of this exposure cannot be the user himself, but a third party who was careless or acted maliciously, adding to the already common data breaches.

Removing personal information from Google and other search engine results is not a panacea, but this barrier is better than having nothing to protect yourself.