[AndreaVass]

According to Google, “claiming” the knowledge panel requires that I provide them with a government issued ID, a selfie and screenshots of me logging into several social media accounts that I manage. And after I hand over that information to an unknown person I have no way of tracking, they will take “suggestions” from me about the knowledge panel. (There is no offer from Google to “control” anything.)

I didn’t want to do that. I was very taken aback that they had just grouped together random pieces of information, including a photo, and published them inside of a box titled “knowledge panel.” I thought it was very careless, unprofessional, unethical and disrespectful. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that type of product/publication, let alone “claim” it.

However, I did provide them with enough information already publicly available to prove that the photos they were publishing alongside my book were of the wrong people and I repeatedly told them that I did not have a photo on the Internet. But no, I did not dance to their tune and claim the panel. And there are stories of people who did in fact claim a panel, only to be ignored by Google afterwards.