Google's Personal Data Removal Tool Now Covers Government IDs
1 14Google on Tuesday expanded its "Results about you" tool to let users request the removal of Search results containing government-issued ID numbers -- including driver's licenses, passports and Social Security numbers -- adding to the tool's existing ability to flag results that surface phone numbers, email addresses, and home addresses.
The update, announced on Safer Internet Day, is rolling out in the U.S. over the coming days. Google also streamlined its process for reporting non-consensual explicit images on Search, allowing users to select and submit removal requests for multiple images at once rather than reporting them individually.
1 comments
Backups? (Score: 5, Interesting)
by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * ) on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @03:20PM (#65980888)
How does Big Tech handle backups with data deletion requests?
I've set up backup systems for enterprises in the past where we had a hard requirement of restoring state back to seven years.
"Station wagons full of magtapes", and such.
I would presume a subpoena would require such retrieval. I can imagine a few cryptographic systems to make that difficult by mixing it with production but that would require extraordinary effort and commitment to privacy, which I would never expect of pretty much any corporation.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good move, but let's be careful to not get too cavalier assuming compromising info has been deleted.
It's a shame but I'm mentally and strategically preparing for services to require ID one by one over the next decade and ending my 1988-present use of the Internet at that point.
Unless the sun does it first.