Science

Googling yourself will pop up your privacy controls

Soon, all you'll need to do is Google yourself if you're wondering how deeply Google has been digging into your digital life. The company says it's also adding a new 'Find my phone' feature.

New 'Find My Phone' feature lets users lock phone remotely, leave callback number on screen

"Coming soon," a shortcut to personal account information will appear at the top of Google's search results whenever logged-in users enter their own names in the query box, Google said in a blog post Wednesday. (Mike Blake/Reuters)

Soon, all you'll need to do is Google yourself if you're wondering how deeply Google has been digging into your digital life.

"Coming soon," a shortcut to personal account information will appear at the top of Google's search results whenever logged-in users enter their own names in the query box, Google said in a blog post Wednesday.

The feature is part of an update to the "My Account" hub that Google introduced a year ago to make it easier for people to manage the privacy and security controls on the internet company's services.

Google says it is making the change after learning many users who do a "vanity search" under their name want a quicker way to find out what the company knew about them, as well as see how they are depicted on various internet sites

The blog post also announced a new "Find My Phone" feature that will allow users to locate their lost or stolen Android or iOS device, lock and call it, secure their account, leave a callback number on the screen, and more. Users will soon be able to access it by searching Google for "I lost my phone."