We live in the age of information. Data about us as individuals is out there on the internet and it can be accessed by anyone; marketers, stalkers, fraudsters, and ex-partners. There are plenty of great reasons to remove personal information from Google.
Googling yourself may bring up a treasure trove of results. Some of these titbits of information may be things you don’t want the general public to know. But is it possible for you to remove information from Google? The answer, fortunately, is yes!
So, how exactly do you take down information from Google?
Here’s how to delete yourself from the internet.
How to Find Out What Information’s Out There
Before you can remove information from Google, you’ll first need to know what exactly you need to know what’s out there.
Start off by Googling yourself using a private or incognito browser tab. This will allow you to see what a stranger might see if they’re searching for you.
Next, you’ll need to look for data brokers. This type of business scrapes information from public records and puts it into a database before selling it. Often, they’ll have information such as your phone number, birthday, address, salary, as well as the names of family members or neighbors.
Some of the most popular brokers include BeenVerified, Intelius, MyLife, Radaris, and Spokeo.
How to Remove Personal Information From Google
Whether you want to remove personal information from Google because you’re worried about fraud, or you just want to enjoy your privacy, there are ways to do this. Your first step should be to contact the website where the information is held.
To do this, find a ‘contact us’ section on the site and drop them an email or direct message. This information can often be found at the bottom of the website’s homepage.
Failing this, you can find information about who owns the site by performing a Whois (‘who is?’) search using Google. Go to Google and search ‘Whois’ followed by the website address.
The email address that you’ll need to use to get in touch with the site owner will generally be found under registrant email or under administrative contact.
Finally, you could also get in touch with the hosting company of the site. The Whois search will usually feature information about the website’s hosts. If you’re not able to find the owner any other way, you can generally get in touch with them via their host.
Once a website owner has removed the information about you, it will stop appearing on Google searches after a few days.
If you want to know how to remove your images from Google search, Google can remove them for you if it poses a significant risk of fraud, identity theft, or any other harm.
Looking After Your Privacy
You may want to carry out a regular check from time to time to see what information is out there about you. Regularly looking to remove personal information from Google will reduce the risk of identity theft and fraud.
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