Privacy · Online safety · French law
Tracking removal and de-indexing requests
Organise evidence, follow up requests and consider appeals.
Practical guidance · 04
Prepare and track a request
A simple method to organise reports, avoid omissions and follow up with websites and search engines.
Before submitting
Build a clear case file
Identify the source and search results
Record the original page address, search-result URLs, the search engine and the queries that reveal the content. A page URL and an image URL may be different.
Preserve evidence
Take readable screenshots with dates, keep URLs and save correspondence. Do not alter original evidence or republish exposed information.
Contact the source website
Where possible, ask the publisher or host to remove the content or make it inaccessible. The CNIL recommends contacting the relevant website to exercise your rights. A de-indexing request may be made in parallel.
Submit a separate request to each search engine
Use the form matching your reason: right to de-index, doxxing policy, personal content, legal grounds or outdated result. An incomplete or overly broad request may delay review.
Track deadlines and follow up
Record the submission date, case number, URLs and response. For GDPR data-rights requests, the organisation should generally respond within one month. This period may be extended by two further months for complex or numerous requests, provided the person is informed within the first month.
If the request is refused or unanswered
Ask for the reasons and check whether your request was sufficiently precise. Where appropriate, you may lodge a complaint with the CNIL, including your original request and any response. The CNIL can provide guidance about the competent authority for a search engine established in another EU country.
Suggested tracking table
| Item | What to record |
|---|---|
| Source URL | Exact address of the page hosting the content |
| Search engine / result URL | Google, Bing, Qwant, etc. and the displayed link |
| Grounds | GDPR, doxxing policy, platform rule, illegal content or outdated result |
| Submission date | Date, time and method used |
| Reference | Case number or acknowledgement |
| Follow-up date | Next date to check, based on the applicable process |
| Decision | Accepted, refused, partial or pending |