Google has announced that kids, teens and their parents or guardians now you can request to delete their pictures from its image search results. This functionality is aimed to enhance protection for users under the age of 18. As per the blogpost, “We believe this change will help give young people more control over their digital footprint and where their images can be found on Search. Learn more about other ways we work to help kids and families stay safe while exploring information online.”
Notably, once the image is removed, it will not appear in the Images tab or as thumbnails in any feature in Google Search. However, the company explains that the removal of an image from Google Search does not take it down from the internet as it might appear on other sites. Hence, the user must get in touch with the site’s webmaster to take that down too.
If you are under 18 or have a kid who is under the age of 18, here are a few steps that you can follow to request the removal of your images from Google Search:
How to request the removal of images of users below 18 years from Google search results
- Go to the “Help page” of this policy to get information that you will need to fill the request form
- Visit the “Support Link” to start the removal process
- Fill the form by giving information like the images you want to remove, URLs of any search results pages that contain the said images and search query terms that show images
- Once submitted, the company will review the request and might even reach out to you for any additional information. The company will even notify the user once the request is approved or disapproved
For the unversed, Google also allows users to request the removal of other content from its search results. This includes content related to non-consensual explicit imagery, fake pornography, financial or medical information, and so on.
Follow and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube
