You can now delete personal data on internet by asking Google — Privacy Ninja
You can now delete personal data on internet by asking Google
Employees are the lifeblood of every organization. They are the ones who operate, expand, and sometimes make important decisions that could define how the organization functions. With such an important role, they are often the target of bad actors with a goal in mind — to infiltrate the organization. Since they hold credentials that serve as the key to the organization’s systems and servers, they are thoroughly watched and baited to get a hold of them.
The organization’s employees are considered the weakest link when it comes to the cybersecurity hygiene of institutions, especially if they are a neophyte in the concept of data protection. In the past, the PDPC had cases decided to order organizations to pay whopping fines just because an employee made a mistake, such as sending an email to a wrong recipient with attachments containing personal data.
With this, the thrust of cybersecurity must be focused on employees, especially those who handle personal data and security keys to the organization’s systems and servers. Every organization must ensure that their digital footprints on the web are clean and could not lead a clear path for bad actors or cybercriminals to explore and exploit. Luckily, employees now can do this by simply asking Google to remove their personal information from its very own search results.
Also read: Managing employee data under Singapore’s PDPA
You can now delete personal data on internet by asking Google
Gone are the days of figuring out how to remove your personal information on the internet as Google is making a bold move allowing users to remove their personal data on the internet if they want to. While the tech giant has been broadly against the “ right to be forgotten,” a European law that allows EU citizens to demand companies to delete personal data that is stored about them, Google is turning a new leaf and now allows it on a global scale.
With this move, Google has released an online form where users can choose to “remove certain personally identifiable information (PII) or doxxing content from Google Search.” From there, they will answer a series of questions about the type of personal information that comes up in search results, the URLs of the websites that show the information, the search terms that brought those results up in Google searches, and even screenshots of the websites and search results.
The form also asks if their personal information is being shared “with the intent of doxxing,” if it has explicit content, or if it needs to be taken down for legal reasons.
For now, users can fill out the online form to submit a removal request, but Google has recently announced that in the coming months, it will introduce a new tool where users can find their personal data and request from there the removal of their data with just a few clicks.
How a DPO can help
A Data Protection Officer (DPO) oversees data protection responsibilities and ensures that organizations comply with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). Furthermore, every Organization’s DPO should be able to curb any instances of data breaches as it is the officer responsible for maintaining the positive posture of an organization’s cybersecurity.
It is the officer responsible for making policies for employees to follow before, during, and after an instance of a data breach so that these employees will know the standard operating procedure to do when dealing with personal data.
Through training and seminars employed by the DPO, employees will be aware of what to do and not do when it comes to data protection of their data and the personal data they collect, use, or disclose as part of their job description.
Also Read: Check the Do Not Call Registry in Singapore before marketing to phone numbers
