How do I get my personal information out of search results?

People conflate the two and give up when one fails. The search engine cannot edit someone else's website, and the website cannot control what a search engine indexes, so both have to be approached separately.

Step by step

1. Write down exactly what you want removed.The specific web addresses, the specific information, and why its continued publication is unwarranted. Vague requests are refused; precise ones are processed.
2. Approach the website first.Look for a contact or privacy address. Under UK data protection law you can ask for personal data to be erased or corrected, and they must respond, normally within a month.
3. Use the search engine's own removal request separately.The major search engines publish a form for European and UK residents to request removal of results for searches on their name. It removes the result, not the page.
4. Use the personal information removal route for exposed details.Search engines also remove results exposing things like your home address, phone number, bank details or identity documents, regardless of the data protection argument. That route is usually faster.
5. Expect a balancing test for anything else.The request weighs your privacy against public interest. Old, irrelevant, excessive information about a private individual is usually removed; recent news about a public role usually is not.
6. Tackle data broker sites separately.People-search sites that publish addresses and dates of birth each have their own removal process. Removing yourself from the open electoral register helps stop new entries appearing.
7. Deal with images and intimate content urgently.Non-consensual intimate images have specialised UK routes: the Revenge Porn Helpline for adults, and for anyone under eighteen, the Internet Watch Foundation and Report Remove. These work far faster than a general request.
8. Escalate refusals to the ICO.If a website or search engine refuses and you disagree, the Information Commissioner's Office will consider a complaint. It is free and does not need a solicitor.

Tips

• Removal from one search engine does not affect others. Submit to each one you care about.
• The page remains reachable by its direct address after a search removal. If the content itself is the problem, only the website can solve it.
• Keep copies of every request and response with dates. It is what the ICO will ask for.

Common mistakes

• Contacting only the search engine — It leaves the page published and reachable. Anyone with the link, and any other search engine, still finds it.
• Asking for removal of something recent and newsworthy — Requests are refused where public interest outweighs privacy, and a refused request occasionally attracts more attention than the original page.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask