When you surf the World Wide Web, you are probably focused on finding information about a variety of topics that can help you learn new things and work more effectively. But have you ever thought about performing an internet search using your own name? If you haven’t done this yet, go ahead and give it a try. You might be surprised by all of the personal information that shows up in Google search results. And if you can see it, it means that anyone who searches for you can see it too. If that makes you feel a little concerned about your privacy, you aren’t alone!
The good news is you can work on removing your personal information from Google. Below, we outline a few ways that you can go about doing so. By taking the right steps, you can regain control over where your personal information is displayed online.
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Start with People Search Websites
Once you type your full name into the Google search box to see what shows up in the results, you will likely realize that there are a lot of people search websites out there, and they might all showcase some amount of personal information about you. Some of these sites even let total strangers run a background check on you to gain access to information like your property records, lawsuit records, and criminal records. Yikes!
Can you do anything about the people search websites that are showcasing your personal details? Absolutely! Just go to each one and look for their opt out instructions. This will tell them that you no longer want them to display any listings that include your information.
Give it a try by going to the Whitepages opt out page. There, you will find instructions on how to easily and quickly request the removal of your information.
But there’s more where that came from. Take Fast People Search as another example. Yet again, finding the Fast People Search removal directions is the way to go if you want to have your personal information removed so it will no longer show up when people search for you.
And yet another website you can try is TruthFinder. Many people use this site as well, so search for TruthFinder opt out instructions to be sure you can regain your privacy.
Contact Website Owners Directly
If you do a quick search for your personal information online and you find that there are websites hosting details about you that you’d like them to take down, just contact them directly. Politely ask for the removal of your personal information, and hopefully they’ll comply with your request.
Contact Google to Request Removal of Your Personal Information
If you have tried contacting websites to ask them to take down your information, but they have refused to do so, you may be able to submit a request to Google to at least not show those sites in search results related to you. Just keep in mind that Google only removes certain types of content, such as personal details that would put you in harm’s way. Although people might still be able to find those same websites through other means, such as social media, other websites, or other search engines, because Google is the most popular search engine, this can still be a step in the right direction.
