Children under the age of 18 can now request deletion of their images from Google search results. In fact, a de-indexing. This is a new possibility offered to users in the field of security: announced in August, along with a series of other tools to limit the advertising to which children are subjected, it is now available on a global scale.
Obviously, these are not explicit images, since the explicit images of minors are – as well as prohibited – obviously eliminated by default from the automated systems of the giant. However, a specific request must be made: this must be done by the minor himself, his parent or guardian, “except in cases of great public interest or relevance for public dissemination” as stated on the dedicated page in the support section of the engine. of research. Once those URLs are flagged, and therefore deleted, they will no longer appear in the Images tab or as thumbnails in any other section or search functionality of Big G.
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In addition to the URL addresses of the images concerned, applicants will also have to indicate to Google which search terms, i.e. which terms, those contents are brought to light, the name and age of the child and the name and relationship of the person forwarding. the request possibly on his behalf.
There are aspects that are not entirely clear about the procedure, as he also points out The Verge. For example, understanding what criteria Google will decide if and how to remove reported URLs. Probably without particular problems if every information corresponds to what is requested by the group. The publication also highlights, judging by the way the help pages are worded, that the content in question will only be removed if the immortalized person is under 18 at the time of the request. To understand, if a person were to be 25 and intended to request the removal of images that portray him when he was 15, he could not. In all likelihood, the objective of the tool is in fact to prevent and block actions of abuse or harassment at a given moment, not to open up the possibility for anyone to remove their own childhood images. Also because it could be complex to establish the age in a certain shot after many years while it is easier to proceed with a contextual verification. We will see if the option will also be extended to the contents of minors under the age of 18 and not only to those of those who have, at a given time, less than that threshold.
As always, Google points out that removing an image from your search results doesn’t mean deleting it from the web. But, in fact, exclusively de-index it, as happens with the process relating to the right to be forgotten in Europe. However, a good compromise if, by contacting administrators and managers of the sites in which they are hosted or if they do not know each other, you cannot get it deleted from the servers.
To proceed with the removal request, you must start the procedure from this page. After completing it, you will receive an automatic confirmation email and the request will be processed according to the requirements mentioned above. If necessary, Google will ask for other information and details to proceed with the identification and if something is wrong it will report the problem asking to fix it. In any case, a notification will arrive for each action taken. If the request does not meet the requirements for removal, a brief explanation will also be included, but if you later have additional material to support the removal, the request can be resubmitted.
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