by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, July 3, 2017

Google wants to organize the world’s information and make it accessible to all, but there are a few instances where the company has agreed to remove content from search results.

While Google won’t remove birth dates, addresses or telephone numbers from search engine results unless it’s an urgent matter of security, it will remove national identification numbers like social security, bank accounts, credit cards, images of signatures, nude or sexually explicit images and confidential and personal medical records.

Medical records is the latest piece of information that has been added to this list. The search engine began removing private medical records from search requests after changing its policy in June.

Citing a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Verge reported in 2015 that approximately 29 million health records were affected by data breaches between 2010 and 2013 in the U.S., with about 67% stores electronically.

Google will remove the content if it is a piece of personal information that creates significant risks of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harm such as a government-issued identification number. Google also considers whether or not it is possible for someone to obtain more information about an individual that would result in financial harm.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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