Google has been asked by a number of users to remove some personal information such as phone numbers in search results.
Google has now expanded its policies to allow users to request removal of contact info such as phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses. Users can also ask Google to remove login credentials if they appear in a query.
Google previously restricted requests to special events, such as doxing treatments as well as blatant fraud targets such as bank and credit card details.
Google will still review the request to make sure the request is honest, for example it will not delete references that are public records. At that time, not even a politician could simply ask for their office phone number to be deleted.
This policy expansion follows other recent efforts to curb the spread of sensitive information.
Starting last year, Google users under 18 can request the removal of their photos from image search.
While Google's extended policies are not guaranteed to fully protect user privacy, they can thwart perpetrators, harassers, and stalkers who rely on Google search to reach their targets.
