How to Remove Personal Information From Google Search

You searched your own name and found your mobile number, your home address or a photo of your MyKad sitting on a directory site, an old forum or a leaked list. In BM people search this as "buang maklumat peribadi dari Google". Anyone who types your name can now see where you live.

The short answer: Google has free tools to hide results that show your contact details or ID numbers, but hiding a result does not delete the page. For that, you go to the website that holds the data, and in Malaysia, to the Personal Data Protection Department if a business is behind it.

This guide explains what Google will and will not remove, how to file each request, how to deal with the source website, and the paid "reputation" offers to avoid.

Last checked: 5 October 2026.

#How Do You Remove Your Personal Information From Google Search?

Sign in to your Google Account and open "Results about you", or search your name, open the menu beside the result and choose "Remove result". Google's Results about you page says it may approve removal of results showing your phone number, home address or email address, as long as the details are yours and you cannot remove them yourself, and its wider personal information policy covers other details such as a government ID number too. At the same time, ask the website owner to delete the data, because Google says the information still exists on the source page whether your request is approved or denied. When the page has changed, ask Google to refresh the result. Google reviews every request and may refuse, for example for newspapers and government sites.

#What Google Will and Will Not Remove

Google removes results under its own policies, which it says apply globally, so a Malaysian user can use them. Its personal information policy lists the kinds of details it will consider:

• Your home address, phone number or email address.
• Confidential government ID numbers, which for a Malaysian reader means your MyKad number or passport number.
• Bank account or credit card numbers.
• Pictures of your signature or your ID card.
• Private records, such as medical records.
• Confidential usernames and passwords.

Google also treats doxxing as a separate case. The same page says it can remove a URL that shows your personal information together with threats, or calls for others to harm or harass you, or a significant amount of aggregated personal information without a legitimate purpose.

What usually stays: information that is valuable to the public. Google says the "Remove result" option will not appear for results from government or educational websites, online newspapers or business websites, and that newsworthy content may stay up. Professional details, such as a work phone number on your employer's site, are treated differently from personal ones. A page you simply dislike, but which shows none of these details, is outside this policy. For an old news story about you, our guide to removing a news article about you covers the separate route.

#Removing a Result Versus Removing the Page

This is the point most people miss. Google can stop a page appearing in its search results. It cannot delete the page from the website that hosts it.

Google's help page says an approved URL usually stops appearing for any search. Sometimes it is removed only for searches that contain your name, when the page also carries public-interest content or details about other people. Either way, people may still reach the page through a direct link, social media or another search engine.

#Using Results About You, Step by Step

"Results about you" lets Google search for your details on your behalf and alert you when new results appear. Google says some features are still rolling out to adults in certain markets, so it may look different, or be missing, on your account. If you do not see it, skip to the next section.

1. In the Google app, tap your profile picture and choose "Results about you". On a browser, open the Results about you page and select "Get started" or "Settings".
2. Enter your name and the details you want Google to look for. You can add nicknames, more than one phone number, address or email, and, where offered, ID numbers such as a passport number.
3. Turn on notifications if you want an email or app alert when new matching results appear.
4. Open the "To review" tab, select a result and choose to request removal. Choose "Mark as reviewed" for results you are happy to leave.
5. Watch for the confirmation email, then check "Removal requests" for the status: in progress, approved, denied or undone.

Google says the details you enter are used for monitoring and removal only, not for ads or other products, and that you can delete them under "Settings" with "Remove all personal info". If a request is denied, the reason appears on the same page.

#Reporting a Single Result From the Search Page

You can also report straight from the results. Google suggests searching your name with your home city or address to find the pages that matter.

1. Sign in to your Google Account on a phone or computer.
2. Search for your name and find the result.
3. Select the three-dot menu beside it to open "About this result".
4. Choose "Remove result", then "It shows my personal info and I don't want it there", then "Contact Info". The labels can vary by app version and language.
5. Enter your details exactly as they appear on the page, including an old address or a nickname if that is what it shows.
6. Submit, select "I'm done", and look for a confirmation email.

One request per URL is enough, even if the page shows several of your details. For a page that threatens you, shows your signature or ID card, or sits behind a paywall, Google points to its detailed removal request form, reached from the personal information policy page. That form asks for the URLs and screenshots, and Google says you can edit the screenshots before you upload them.

#Going to the Website That Holds Your Data

Removing data at the source is the only route that takes it off the internet. Google's own advice on contacting a website owner says the owner is the one who can take the page down.

• Look for a "Contact us" link, a privacy notice or a data protection officer email on the site.
• If there is none, Google suggests a WHOIS lookup for the domain to find the registrant or hosting company, and contacting the host if the owner does not answer.
• Write briefly: the page URL, which details are yours, that you did not agree to their publication, and that you ask for them to be deleted.
• Keep a copy of what you sent and when. MCMC asks for copies of messages sent to the website owner if you complain later.
• Do not threaten, insult or argue with the owner. A calm request is more likely to be acted on, and it reads better if you escalate later.

Some sites publish personal details and then demand payment to take them down. Google's policy on exploitative removal sites says it may remove results from such a site when you are the subject, the site is not a business review site, and it demands payment for removal. Report the site to Google rather than paying it.

#The Malaysian Route: PDPA 2010 and JPDP

The European "right to be forgotten" does not cover Malaysian users. Google's right to be forgotten overview explains that the right comes from European data protection law, names Turkey, Serbia and Quebec as places with similar rules, and says delistings follow the territorial scope of each law. Malaysia is not mentioned there, so for a Malaysian reader Google's global policies above are the main search route. For a request based on a specific local law, Google points to its Legal Help Center. This is general information, not legal advice.

The Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Act 709) applies to people and organisations that process personal data in connection with commercial transactions, the JPDP website explains. Its public guidance page lists your rights as a data subject, including the right to correct your data, to withdraw consent and to prevent processing that may cause damage or distress. If an online shop, agent, directory or other business published your data and ignores your request, you can submit a complaint to JPDP through the link on that page, or by email to the address JPDP lists there.

MCMC's complaint guidance also maps data breaches to the PDPA and JPDP, and harmful online content more broadly to MCMC at aduan.mcmc.gov.my after you have reported to the site. If your data is being used to threaten you or to cheat you, that is a police matter. Our guide to a Telegram channel leaking your personal data goes through the agency reports in detail.

#After the Page Changes: Refreshing Old Results

Once the website removes or edits the page, Google eventually updates its results during normal crawling. If an old snippet keeps showing your details, use Google's Refresh outdated content tool.

1. Open the Refresh outdated content page and select "Request refresh".
2. On the "Page" tab, paste the URL of the page that has changed or been deleted.
3. For an image, copy the image link from Google Images, choose "New request" then "Image", and paste it.
4. Select "Submit". You can check the status later in the same tool.

This tool only works when the source has really changed. It will not remove a live page that still shows your details; for that, use the removal requests above.

#Evidence Checklist Before You File

• The full URL of every page showing your details, not just the search result link.
• Screenshots with the date, time and address bar visible, cropped or blurred to hide other people's details.
• The search terms that bring the page up, such as your name plus your city.
• Exactly how your details appear on the page, including spelling, old addresses and nicknames.
• Copies of your request to the website owner and any reply.
• Google request IDs from the confirmation emails and the Removal requests tab.
• Any threats or messages connected to the page, and a police report number if you made one.

If your address appears in social media posts rather than on websites, the platform's own reporting tools come first; our guide to removing a doxxing post that shows your address covers that side.

#Offers to Wipe You From Google

After people search for this topic, ads and messages promising to "delete you from Google" tend to follow. No outside service can make Google remove a result; it uses the same free forms you do, and Google makes the call.

• Anyone who promises guaranteed or permanent removal is promising something Google itself does not.
• Nobody needs your Google password, a verification code or a backup code to file a removal request for you. Results about you works inside your own account, and Google says requests filed from someone else's account on your behalf may be denied.
• Never pay a site that published your data to unpublish it. Report it under Google's exploitative removal policy instead.
• Be wary of anyone offering to send mass reports or fake legal notices. False claims can get your genuine requests ignored and may expose you to legal risk.

If you have already handed over your Google password or a code, change the password from a device you trust, review your account's recent security activity, and remove any recovery phone or email you do not recognise.

#When a Case Review Makes Sense

Most people can file these requests alone, and only Google, the website owner or a regulator can act on them. A second opinion helps when the same details appear across many sites at once, when the pages are tied to harassment or threats, or when Google has denied a request and you are unsure whether another route applies. SocialSafe by AwareXone, our recovery and digital identity service, reviews the case first, prepares rights-based requests through Google's official forms, website owners and the proper Malaysian agencies, and never files false claims. It cannot promise removal and will never ask for your passwords or codes. The content removal service page explains how a review works, and our Trust Center sets out how we handle your information.

#Frequently Asked Questions