launch of New Internet Privacy Website

October 2011 sees the launch of SubtractMe, a website offering practical information on how to prevent private and personal content from getting on the web. The site also offers several detailed step-by-step guides on how to quickly and discreetly remove search results of personal information that has already been compromised.

Search engines are the gateways to the Internet and are used by millions to locate information by simply typing the chosen keyword(s) into a box. This makes it incredibly easy for someone to locate a web page that contains private information, such as a compromised password, a credit card number or photos that have been copied without permission.

None of the major search providers manually pre-screen sites before adding their pages to the search results. The process of finding, sorting and delivering the results is almost entirely automated with human intervention kept to an absolute minimum.

By removing a page from the Google search results you will significantly reduce the exposure any compromised data gets on the wider web.

Both Google and it's competitor Bing will remove certain types of private content but for other types they may ask you to first contact the original source web site and get the site owner to co-operate. This is to prevent abuse of the removal system and to ensure the results are not manipulated by those wishing to suppress freedom of information.

subtractme.com is a site set up to help individuals make sense of the often complicated removal policies of both Google and Bing as well as other sites such as Youtube.

The site is easy to understand and simple to navigate, it also references official resources, contact forms and announcements from the major Internet companies.