Very, very interesting change in Google’s policy regarding privacy. And it is that we remember that, not so long ago, the development of the right to be forgotten was necessary, as a legal rule so that the search engine had to eliminate results with personal information. It is true that, at the other extreme, we find the interest of many not only to appear in the search results, but also to do so in the best positions.
Be that as it may, one of the great claims by users to Google is to have greater control over their data. And at this point, the truth is that in reality the search engine only intermediates, by indexing content that, in 100% of cases, it has been published by third parties. It is true that Google gives it more visibility, of course, but we must not forget that the origin of the data is the one who has the final control over the presence of said data on the Internet.
Thus, we must understand that although Google gives greater visibility to the information (which is, in reality, the very reason for being an indexer and search engine), that is only part of the explanation of the reason why the Law of the right to be forgotten, as well as similar regulations that may be developed in other geographies, point to Google and not to the origin of the data. The other part, and which has at least the same weight as the previous one, is that it is much easier to go to Google, than to those responsible for many websiteswhich also comply with different legal frameworks depending on their country of origin.
In other words, if tomorrow you search for your name on Google and find a page with your data that you do not want to be public, but it is not possible (or it is very complex) to find out who is responsible for it, even more so ask them to remove said information , and potentially impossible to make that request but by judicial means, in which case the main (if not the only) resource available to you is to ask Google to stop indexing it and therefore to show it in the search results.
In Europe this is already possible, as indicated before, by the Law on the right to be forgotten, approved in 2014, and with similar regulations in other regions, although in some cases its negative effects are questioned, although it is necessary to request it from the company filling out a form in which our identity is proven and the reason for the deletion is justified. However, as we can read on Engadget, this is about to change, since Google is going to improve the visibility that users have about the presence of information about them and, then, to facilitate its deletion.
This new approach to user privacy is built around “Results about you”, a new tool that allows users to request the removal of their physical address, phone number and email address with just a few clicks, and that next year will “grow”, allowing you to set alerts on personal information. This, in turn, will allow Google to request its removal in a more agile way.
Yes, it is true, that at least for now Results about you will only allow the quick elimination of the aforementioned data, but it will also will serve as an access point to the delete functions of other types of resultswhich will undoubtedly substantially facilitate a process that, today, is still somewhat complex, especially for private users.
