What you need to know
- Google has updated its "Results about you" for US users to start.
- The upgrade introduces a dashboard that alerts to where any personal info lives on Search and when new data pops up.
- The tech giant is also tweaking its SafeSearch feature to include default blurring on explicit images.
- The SafeSearch upgrade is being rolled out to users worldwide this month.
Google has recently taken steps to help you protect your personal information on Search, such as the launch of its “Results about you” feature, which allows users to request the removal of any personal data. But now, the tech giant is making updates to the privacy feature to help you even further manage your personal info online.
Google announced that it recently updated the tool with a new dashboard on the privacy feature that lets you track any of your personal data that comes in through Search. This new update will allow users to set up an automated search function for their personal info.
This means not only will the feature continue to allow users to easily request the removal of any personal info straight from the tool, but users will also be notified of where their private information appears on Search and receive alerts when new information pops up on the search engine.
“With these new features, ‘Results about you’ will save you time and effort when it comes to keeping track of your personal contact info,” Google says in a statement,
Google explains that to access the feature, you can click on your Google account photo and select “Results about you” from the drop-down menu. Users can also use the tool by going directly to the website.
This feature rolled out to English-speaking users in the US to start, but the tech giant says it will soon expand to other regions and in other languages.
Elsewhere on Search, Google is also updating its SafeSearch function with an upgrade that will blur by default any explicit images even if users have the SafeSearch filter turned off. Users can turn off the default blurring at any time, unless the feature has been locked by a parent or administrator.
Google says that the new SafeSearch setting is being rolled out to all users globally this month.
Lastly, the company is making it easier to request the removal of personal, sexually explicit images from Search that have been posted without your consent and that are not actively commercialized. Google notes that the updated policy also “covers third-party created content featuring them that has been removed from publication online and elsewhere.”
These moves are part of the tech giant’s ongoing efforts to improve user safety. Earlier this year, the company expanded the SafeSearch feature and updated password protection for Safer Internet Day. “We know it’s important to stay in control of your online experience,” Google says in its statement. “These new tools and updates are some of the many ways we’re continuing to make Google the safer way to Search.”
