Empowering Privacy: Google’s New Safeguarding Measures
Google’s Latest Privacy Enhancements Ensure Online Security for South African Users
Google has implemented revisions across its platforms to grant users enhanced command over and privacy protection for their personal information during online searches.
The freshly updated features include “Insights about You,” the novel SafeSearch function, and revised policies concerning explicit personal imagery. These tools have now become available, aimed at fortifying the online privacy of South Africans.
Insights about You
“Insights about You,” an application launched just last year, has undergone a substantial transformation. This innovative tool empowers individuals to seamlessly request the removal of search results that reveal their contact details, such as phone numbers, residential addresses, or email addresses. This process can be accomplished directly through the Google app or via the Search platform.
The tool has now incorporated a new dashboard, which promptly alerts users when search results containing their personal contact information surface. With the tool’s assistance, users can promptly petition the removal of these results from the Google database.
Additionally, the tool provides notifications when fresh web results containing personal contact details emerge in search results. Accessible through the Google app, users can simply click on their Google account profile picture and opt for “Insights about You.”
Although currently available in English solely within the United States, plans are in motion for its expansion into various languages and regions.
SafeSearch
The novel SafeSearch feature introduces a blurring mechanism for explicit imagery, including content of an adult or graphically violent nature. By default, such content will now be discreetly obscured within search results.
This enhancement offers greater control to families, preventing inadvertent exposure to explicit material during online searches. Users are empowered to adjust the settings and deactivate the feature at their discretion. However, overriding this requires the authorization of a guardian or a network administrator, particularly in educational settings.
Priority
Siya Madikane, the Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Google in South Africa, has stressed that safeguarding users’ personal data online is a paramount concern for Google.
“The call for policy changes, coupled with an intensified focus on privacy and personal data protection, is clearly discernible among South Africans. Research findings have pinpointed areas of concern, compelling entities like Google to devise solutions that effectively address these issues.”
Policies
Google has also undertaken policy updates pertaining to explicit personal imagery. Users now have the capability to eliminate their own explicit images from search results, should they choose to do so.
While this modification doesn’t extend to content that is currently commercialized, it does provide an avenue for the removal of non-consensual explicit imagery from search results.
Madikane further added, “We have streamlined and simplified the forms used for content removal requests, whether they pertain to websites containing personal information, explicit imagery, or any other type of content. It’s important to note that removing content from Google Search doesn’t expunge it from the internet or other search engines. Nevertheless, we anticipate that these revisions will empower users with greater control over the visibility of their private information within Google Search.”
Research Findings
A survey conducted by Unicef has illuminated that one-third of children in South Africa face the risk of encountering online violence, exploitation, or abuse. This study, known as the ‘SA Kids Online Study,’ has also revealed that 70% of surveyed children access the internet without parental consent. To ease parental oversight, search engine parental controls have been made more accessible.
Another study by Ipsos has unveiled a decline in South Africans’ trust in the internet since 2019, particularly in relation to privacy and personal data protection. This global survey, encompassing 20 countries, has underscored the fact that 88% of South African respondents express reservations regarding privacy and information control, a figure surpassing the country average of 79%.
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