Get an Email Alert Anytime Someone Uses Google to Search for You online
Google has a feature called Results About You that alerts you when your personal information gets posted online. This feature uses Google Search to scan the web for your name, address, phone number, email address, and other personal information. When it finds your information on a website, it sends you an email alert.
You can pair the Results About You feature with the Remove Your Result tool to make it difficult for people to find your personal information online. The Remove Your Result tool allows you to request that Google remove links to specific websites from its search results.
To use the Results About You feature, you need to have a Google Account. Once you have a Google Account, you can go to the Results About You website and sign in. The “Results About You” dashboard will send notifications every time new results appear.
In a time when the personal and financial data of billions of people is floating around online, ripe for exploitation by data brokers, privacy has become a major concern. Google acknowledged this issue when it launched the Results About You tool.
It’s important to note that Google cannot remove all personal information from the web. However, the Results About You feature and the Remove Your Result tool can help you make your personal information more difficult to find online.
Here are some tips for using the Results About You feature and the Remove Your Result tool:
- Review your Results About You alerts regularly and request that Google remove any links to websites you don’t want to appear in search results.
- Be sure to update your Results About You profile with any changes to your personal information.
- Be careful about sharing your personal information online. Only
- share your information with websites and organizations that you trust.
When you visit Google’s Results About You website, you’ll find it’s easy to use. You can get a good idea of what to expect when you visit the Results About You website from the screenshots below. These screenshots were taken after logging in to my Google account.
Fill in the forms and get notified when someone searches Google for you
Be sure that you fill in all information correctly on the Google Results About You website. When you’ve completed filling out the forms, you’ll be notified by email anytime someone searches for you online using Google.
Important note: Google’s “Results About You” tool is currently available to everyone with a Gmail account in the United States, Australia, and select European countries. Google is planning to roll this service out to more countries in the future.
WOW! Thanks for the info about ‘Resul++-++-ts about you”…don’t think I have anything to hide but for people that do…COOL!