I would sue. I wouldn't even attempt any of the hacks the folks here in HN are recommending... we are talking about a business (Google) impersonating the OP online; that's serious. Unfortunately, suing costs money. It's a shame giants like Google don't give a damn about these things.
IANAL, and if you are I apologize for talking over you.
... But I doubt there are grounds for a lawsuit. Google is not impersonating the OP... They are stating an untrue fact in a public fact directory. I don't know of any precedent for suing the phone book for misreporting somebody's phone number. The back stop against such errors has traditionally been in the marketplace itself... A source of "facts" that is consistently wrong grows a bad reputation and is no longer trusted or used by the common person. At the broadest stretch of the imagination, they might be guilty of libel, but the victim would have to prove damages (if the damages are sufficiently egregious, libel can be proven without intent, but that usually involves statements "vicious of malice," and I think you'd be hard-pressed to fit "we think this is a photo of the individual in question" into that category without blazing a hell of a lot of new precedent).
I suspect a lawsuit in the space would be a lot of money thrown at no beneficial outcome.
If this is true it is more evidence of a broken legal system.
But the legal system is not fixed. Culture changes and the context in which we interpret laws change. There might not be precedent for getting a number wrong in a phone book, but we barely use phone books anymore, and market mechanisms don't work. I agree with you that it might be difficult to prove standing (the persons whose photos were used were likely to have standing, I think, but IANAL), but it _is_ important that we bring these cases to court and try to gain a new legal precedent.
I suppose you can argue that these knowledge panels are uniquely bad. But any uncommon name that you share with someone who is plausibly you on cursory examination has the same problem--regardless of search provider. If a potential employer or date turns up "your" criminal history, especially for the "right" age range and location, a lot of people will close the browser and move on.
