How to Remove Personal Information from Google in Australia

What personal information can Google remove?

Google allows people to request removal of certain personal information from search results. Examples can include home addresses, personal phone numbers, personal email addresses, some government identification numbers, bank or credit card details, images of signatures or identification documents, certain medical information, confidential login credentials, and some forms of doxxing content. Google also provides a Results about you feature that can help identify search results containing personal contact information and request removal where eligible.

Start with the original website

Before focusing on Google, open the webpage containing the information. Ask whether the information is still visible, whether it is inaccurate or outdated, whether you control the website, and whether the website owner can remove or update it. If the information is still published on the source page, removing or correcting it there is usually the most complete solution. Google does not normally host the webpage itself. Removing a search result from Google does not automatically delete the information from the original website. If you control the page, update or delete the information directly. If another organisation controls it, contact them and request a correction or removal where appropriate.

If the information is wrong or outdated

Australian privacy law may help in some situations. Under Australian Privacy Principle 13, organisations and agencies covered by the Privacy Act may be required to take reasonable steps to correct personal information they hold if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. You can request that an organisation correct information it holds about you. APP 13 is not a general Google removal law. It applies to personal information held by relevant organisations or agencies. A practical example: if an Australian organisation has an old address, incorrect employment information or another inaccurate personal detail about you, you may be able to ask that organisation to correct it. If the website then changes, Google can update its search result after recrawling the page.

What if the website changed but Google still shows the old information?

This is common. Google does not update every page immediately. A website might remove your address or change your information while Google temporarily continues to show an old page title, an outdated description, an old version of the text, or a URL that has already been deleted. In this situation, the issue may be outdated indexing rather than live content. First, open the webpage and confirm that the unwanted information has genuinely been removed or changed. If it has, Google may update the result naturally after recrawling the page. You can also review Google's available outdated content processes where appropriate.

How to request removal from Google

If your personal information is still appearing in Google Search, check whether it falls within Google's personal information removal policies. Google's current process can allow you to search for your name or personal information, open the relevant result, use Google's removal or reporting flow where available, explain what type of personal information appears, submit the request, and monitor the request status. You can also use Google's Results about you feature where it is available to you. Google reviews each request individually. A rejected request does not necessarily mean there are no other options. It may simply mean that the result does not qualify under that specific policy.

1. 1Search for your name or the personal information that appears.
2. 2Open the relevant Google result and confirm the URL.
3. 3Use Google's removal or reporting flow where available.
4. 4Explain what type of personal information appears and why it qualifies.
5. 5Submit the request and keep a record of it.
6. 6Monitor the request status and be prepared to appeal or resubmit with better evidence.

What if your home address appears in Google?

If your residential address appears in a search result, first determine where Google is obtaining it. Common sources include directories, business listings, old contact pages, association profiles, archived staff pages, people-search websites, and social media profiles. Where possible, remove or update the address on the original website first. You can then check whether the result qualifies under Google's personal information removal policies. If the address has already disappeared from the source page but remains visible in Google, the issue may instead be an outdated search result.

What if your phone number or email address appears?

Personal phone numbers and email addresses are among the types of contact information Google may allow people to request removal for. Again, check the source first. If the information is coming from your own website, old business profile, social account, or public directory listing, removing it there gives you more control over the long-term result. Then deal with the Google listing if necessary.

What about ABN and business information?

This is where expectations need to be realistic. Some Australian business information is legitimately published through public or commercial business records. Simply disliking the fact that a business-related result appears for your name does not automatically make it removable. If information is inaccurate, check whether the organisation holding or publishing it provides a correction process. If the information is accurate and legitimately public, removal options may be limited. In those situations, the focus may shift from removal to improving what else appears when someone searches your name.

Can you remove a news article from Google Australia?

Sometimes, but it is much more difficult than removing exposed contact information. An article will not generally qualify for removal simply because it is negative, embarrassing or old. Possible options may include requesting a correction from the publisher, asking the publisher to remove or anonymise information, using an applicable Google removal policy, exploring privacy or legal options where appropriate, or suppressing the result if removal is not realistic. For live negative content, search suppression is different from removal. Suppression aims to push an unwanted result lower by strengthening other relevant pages.

Does Australia have a right to be forgotten?

Australia does not currently have a broad equivalent to the European Union's GDPR right to erasure. That means Australians generally cannot rely on a single right to be forgotten to make Google remove any unwanted result. Instead, removal usually depends on the specific circumstances, such as Google's own policies, privacy rights, correction rights, publisher cooperation, whether the source page has been deleted, whether the information is legally restricted, and whether another remedy applies. Be cautious of anyone claiming they can automatically use an Australian right to be forgotten to remove any search result.

What if Google rejects your request?

First, determine why. Possible reasons include: the information does not fall within the relevant policy, the information is still visible on the live page, the result is considered valuable to the public, the wrong URL was submitted, the request concerns a live article rather than removable personal data, or a different process is required. Your next step may be to correct the information at the source, contact the publisher, use another applicable Google process, seek privacy or legal advice where appropriate, or consider suppression if legitimate content cannot be removed. Avoid repeatedly submitting the same request without changing anything.

• the information does not fall within the relevant policy
• the information is still visible on the live page
• the result is considered valuable to the public
• the wrong URL was submitted
• the request concerns a live article rather than removable personal data
• a different process is required

Removal, deindexing and suppression are different

These terms are often confused. Removal means the content is deleted from the original website. Deindexing means the page may still exist, but it no longer appears in Google Search. Suppression means the result remains indexed, but stronger content is used to push it lower. The best outcome depends on the specific URL.

A practical Australian checklist

If personal information appears when someone searches your name, work through these steps rather than submitting every URL through the same form.

1. 1Search your name and identify the exact URLs.
2. 2Open each URL and confirm what is still visible.
3. 3Remove or correct information on websites you control.
4. 4Contact the publisher or organisation if they control the information.
5. 5Consider an APP 13 correction request if relevant.
6. 6Check whether Google's personal information removal policies apply.
7. 7Use an outdated content route only if the source has already changed.
8. 8Consider other options if removal is not realistically available.

When professional help can make sense

Professional help may be useful when several URLs are involved, information appears across multiple websites, Google requests have already failed, the correct removal route is unclear, a publisher is involved, the content is still live, or removal and suppression options need to be assessed together. Search Cleanup Australia reviews individual search results and identifies the most realistic route based on the content and source.