Choosing the correct removal pathway

Decision tree

1. Is the material still present on the source page?
   ├─ No → Request an outdated-content refresh.
   └─ Yes → Continue.

2. Do you control the page or account that published it?
   ├─ Yes → Remove or restrict it at source; then wait for recrawl or request refresh.
   └─ No → Continue.

3. Are you the affected person or authorized to represent that person?
   ├─ No → Do not claim authority. Use a route that permits your actual role, if one applies.
   └─ Yes → Continue.

4. What information is exposed?
   ├─ Home address, phone, email, or supported government ID
   │  ├─ Self-request and Results about you is available → Use Results about you.
   │  └─ Representative, minor, unavailable feature, paywall, professional info posted to harm,
   │     or another unsupported situation → Use the detailed policy form.
   ├─ Bank/card number, signature/ID image, restricted official record, credentials,
   │  or another listed private-information category → Use the detailed policy form.
   ├─ Personal info plus threats/calls to harm or harass, or significant aggregation
   │  without legitimate purpose → Use the detailed form's doxxing branch.
   └─ None of these → Continue.

5. Is the goal deletion from the original website?
   ├─ Yes → Contact the website owner or use the hosting platform's process.
   └─ No → Continue.

6. Is there a specific applicable legal basis, such as privacy/data-protection law,
   defamation, copyright, or a court order?
   ├─ Yes → Use the Legal Help Center; file separately from any policy report.
   └─ No or unsure → Recheck the eligibility matrix; do not convert negativity alone
      into a personal-information complaint.

Accessible linear fallback

1. Check the live source. If the information is absent, go to Refresh outdated results.
2. If the information is present and you control the page, remove or restrict it at source, then allow recrawl or request refresh.
3. If you do not control it, confirm that you are affected or authorized to represent the affected person.
4. Classify the information using the Eligibility matrix.
5. Use Results about you for a supported self-request where the feature is available. Use the detailed form for representatives, minors, unavailable feature cases, other listed private-information categories, and doxxing.
6. If the objective is deletion from the original page, contact the website owner.
7. If a specific law applies, use the legal removal pathway in a separate submission.
8. If no route fits, do not submit a different category without supporting facts.

Endpoint procedures

Public-interest and exceptions checkpoint

Do not treat a government, educational, newspaper, business, public-role, or news context as automatic approval or automatic refusal. Google’s pages describe public value and public interest as review factors. Record the facts and select the route; do not predict the balancing decision. (Results about you policy requirements)

Related documentation

• Eligibility matrix
• Evidence collection
• Removal terminology and mechanisms

Official references

• Remove web results from Google Search
• Remove my private info from Google Search
• Find and remove personal info in Google Search results
• Report Content for Legal Reasons

Policy review record

• Last policy review: 2026-10-17
• Documentation version: 1.0.0