What Google Will Remove Under Its Personal Information Policy (and What It Won't)
Google will remove certain kinds of personal information from its search results on request: government ID numbers, bank and card numbers, contact details, images of your signature or ID, private records like medical records, login credentials, doxxing, intimate imagery, non-explicit images of minors, and content on sites that charge for removal. It will not remove results just because they are negative, embarrassing, unfair or old.
Everything below is drawn from Google's own help pages, linked as we go. Policies change, so check the linked page before you file.
Usually removable
These categories come straight from Google's personal information removal page. If a result shows one of them and it's yours, a request has a real chance:
For contact info, Google steers you to its Results about you tool, which also watches for new matches. For the rest, you use the removal request form.
- Contact details: your address, phone number or email.
- Confidential government IDs: Social Security or tax ID numbers, resident ID card numbers.
- Financial account numbers: bank account or credit card numbers.
- Images of your signature or ID.
- Private records, such as medical records.
- Confidential usernames and passwords.
Removable under separate policies
Google's overview of personal content removals lists several other categories, each with its own rules.
Doxxing
Google will consider removing a URL that shows your personal info alongside explicit or implicit threats, or calls for others to harm or harass you. It also covers pages with a significant amount of aggregated personal info without a legitimate purpose.
Under its personal sexual content policy, Google removes nude, sexual or intimate images and video of you, whether real or fabricated (deepfakes, fake nudes), when the conditions are met. For fake content, you must be identifiable, it must falsely depict you, and it must have been distributed without your consent. The policy also covers results that tie your name to pornographic sites for no reason.
Personal sexual content, real or fake
If you're under 18, Google's minors policy removes non-explicit images of you on request, with exceptions for newsworthy images. The request has to be for image URLs only, not pages mixing text and images, and not images from an account or page you manage. A parent or other representative can file.
Images of minors
Google's exploitative removal practices policy applies when all three are true: you're the subject of the content, the site isn't a business review site, and the site requires payment, to itself or another party, to take the content down. You'll be asked to explain how the site is exploitative. This is often relevant to mugshot sites that sell removals.
Sites that charge for removal
Removable with conditions: partial removals
An approved request doesn't always mean the page disappears from Search entirely. Google describes two outcomes. A full removal means the URL doesn't show for any search. A partial removal means it won't show for searches containing your name or identifier, but it may still show for other searches. Google uses the partial option when the page also contains information of public value or about other people.
Almost never removable
This is the list most people don't want to hear, but it saves wasted effort. Under its personal content policies, Google generally won't remove:
For these, the realistic routes are asking the publisher, using the platform's own reporting process, or suppression: building accurate, well-ranked content that pushes the result down. Our pages on court record suppression and review management cover those routes.
- News articles. Google says that if content is about something important or newsworthy, it might not take it down, and it names newspapers among sites whose results it won't remove for contact info.
- Government and educational pages. Court records, arrest logs and similar public records hosted on official sites fall here.
- Negative reviews and opinions. Criticism of you or your business isn't personal information. The exploitative-site policy specifically excludes business review sites.
- Anything you control. If it's on your own social account or blog, Google expects you to remove it yourself.
- Content that's merely old or unflattering. Age alone isn't a removal ground under these policies.
Policy requests versus legal requests
Everything above falls under Google's own policies, which it applies globally. Separately, Google accepts removal requests for legal reasons through its Legal Help Center, for things like copyright infringement or content a court has found unlawful. That's a different process with different evidence. If someone copied your photos or writing, a copyright claim may be the stronger path.
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you're weighing a legal claim, talk to a lawyer licensed where you live.
How to file so your request isn't wasted
- Submit exact URLs. Google only reviews the URLs you list, so a homepage or a search-results link won't work. Use the specific page or image address.
- Include screenshots. The form asks for them to help reviewers find the content. You can crop them so only the relevant part shows.
- Pick the right category. A doxxing request judged under the contact-info rules may fail for the wrong reason.
- Remember the limit. Google says plainly that removing a result from Search doesn't remove it from the internet. It can still be found through direct links, social media and other search engines.
When outside help makes sense
If your problem fits one of Google's categories, you can file yourself for free and should try that first. Outside help makes more sense when the content falls in the "almost never" group, when it's spread across many sites, or when you're dealing with someone actively posting about you. Be wary of anyone who promises Google will remove something its policies don't cover. Our guide on spotting removal-company fraud explains the warning signs.
Want this handled for you? See our personal information removal service.
