ERASE YOURSELF FROM Google

Google is notorious for hoovering up our personal information when we go online, and yet its tools are too good, too easy to use and – let’s face it – too free for us to boycott them all on privacy grounds. Unless we share our personal data, we’re not of much use to Google, but Google can still be very useful to us.

Nevertheless, it’s still unnerving to feel that you’re being watched every time you go online or take your phone with you when leaving the house. It’s even more disturbing when you come across a negative mention or photo of yourself in Google’s search results, without knowing how to get it removed.

Fortunately, it’s easier than you think to erase yourself from Google, whether it’s data you’ve inadvertently shared with the company through your daily web activities, or content that someone else has posted about you.

In this feature, we’ll explain the most effective ways to delete your private information from Google products and services, including Search, Maps and YouTube, without having to stop using those tools (we covered deleting Chrome data in our ‘Wipe your web history’ feature in Issue 612, page 62).

And if you want to take the ultimate step, we’ll reveal how to completely wipe your Google footprint by closing your account, once you’ve downloaded all your important content.

REMOVE YOURSELF FROM GOOGLE SEARCH

Stop your details appearing in Google search results

Searching for your name on Google may find information that you’d prefer wasn’t out there, such as details of a regrettable incident in your past, a libellous comment about you or personal data such as your address or phone number. To erase this content from Google, you should first try contacting the webmaster of the site it appears on and ask for it to be taken down. After all, Google is just linking to existing material rather than creating or publishing it, so it’s usually quicker to go straight to the source.

Most website owners will be happy to oblige if you politely explain why you want the information to be for details). Use the ‘Contact us’ email address or form provided on the site, or look up the domain name on () to get the contact details of the person who registered the URL.