Google Brings Dark Web Data Monitoring to All Accounts This Month

Google has announced that it will be rolling out dark web reporting to all account users starting in late July. The service will allow users to keep an eye on the rise of their data on the dark web, which could potentially prove to be harmful. Previously limited to users with a Google One subscription, it will now be accessible to all users. The development comes weeks after the tech giant shut down its VPN by Google One service.

Dark Web Reports on Google

Google’s Dark Web Reports to inform users when their personal information is found in a data breach. When information about a data breach is made accessible to Google, the company checks for data tied to the user’s email address or other information, including their name, phone number, address, username, password, or social security number.

Users can then make informed decisions about how to best protect their data. While the dark web reporting service was previously bundled with the Google One subscription, it will soon be available to all Google account holders. However, the service will not be available to users with Google Workspace or supervised accounts.

The Google One app now includes a message telling users that the dark web reporting feature will no longer be part of a Google One subscription as of late July. It also includes a link to a support document stating that “the dark web report will be available to all users with a consumer Google account.”

With this change, users will not need to download or log in to the app to access the reports. According to Google, dark web reports will be merged with the Results about you page – another service of the company that allows the user to control whether their personal information appears in search results. They can also request to remove their data from the web.

Dark web reports are available in 46 countries including India, Japan, UK and US.

The expansion of dark web data monitoring to all users comes weeks after Google discontinued another feature: continuous scroll search on mobile and desktop platforms. Instead, the tech giant has opted for a search-by-page-number format.

Meanwhile, the dark web monitoring feature will be part of the aptly named Google Graveyard – a place where all of Google’s defunct services will eventually end up, including Google Stadia, Pixel Pass, YouTube Stories, and the most recent addition, Google One VPN.