Google Safety Tool Updates Increase Options for Survivors

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A light-skinned hand holds up a soapy sponge against a background of a green, brown, and yellow whirpool of 1s and 0s

Many victims and survivors of abuse have concerns about keeping their personal information safe online. Some abusers chose to misuse that information in order to stalk and harass survivors. This can make those concerns especially acute. This is one reason why it’s important for tech companies to consider survivors’ needs in designing trust and safety tools and policies.

On Safer Internet Day (February 10), Google announced updates to existing safety tools. These updates increase options for survivors and other people at risk who want to remove sensitive content from search results. The announcement provides detailed, easy-to-follow instructions on how to use the updated tools.

Private information removal

There is an existing Google tool called “Results about you.” This tool lets users request that certain kinds of information be removed from Google search results. This is meant to help users with privacy and safety concerns. These include:

  • Home address;

  • Phone number; and

  • Email address.

Now, users can request removal of some new kinds of information. Specifically, users can now ask to remove [LZ1] [JL2] some types of information that are often used in identity theft. Anyone can be a victim of identity theft. However, survivors are especially at risk. Survivors face the same identity theft risks as others, while also facing risks from abusers. 99% of survivors experience some type of financial abuse. The types of information that can be removed include:

  • Social Security numbers;

  • Passports; and

  • Driver’s licenses.

Removal of non-consensual intimate images

Google already had a process for users to request removal of explicit images that were posted without consent. This process is separate from other Google reporting processes, allowing Google to easily notice these reports. The updates make the process easier and more user-friendly. Users can now report more than one image of themselves at once. As before, users need to be logged in to their account to make reports.

The updates also let users opt into a new feature. This new feature detects similar images that might be posted in the future. It filters them out of Google search results without a new report. It works without survivors having to find the new images themselves. While no tool will perform perfectly, this could make the content removal process significantly easier for survivors. It can also make it less retraumatizing.

Google has detailed instructions on how to use these tools here.

Limitations

Removing images and private information from Google search results does not remove them from the internet. It also does not remove them from the results of other search engines like Bing or DuckDuckGo. It only removes them from Google’s own search results. To learn more about the difference – and how to remove images and private information from other sources – read Safety Net’s Removing Sensitive Content from the Internet guide.