Google Complies With ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ EU Court Ruling, Posts Online Submission Form
Google may not like the EU’s recent “right to be forgotten” ruling (Google CEO Larry Page certainly doesn’t), but the search company is already taking the first steps to comply. A page in the Legal section of Google’s support website now has a form users can fill out to request that certain search results be removed.
The ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice is understandably controversial: as Google notes on its new Search Removal Request form, it is now responsible for helping European citizens remove search results in which the indicated content is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed.”
Google now finds itself in the unenviable position of rendering judgments on what could be a flood of requests. The company has indicated that it won’t honor requests that run afoul of public interest, such as situations in which people are trying to expunge information about criminal wrongdoing.
If you’re planning to make a request, you’ll find that the form is easy enough to fill out but you’ll need to prove your identity to Google. That’s a step that may help deter some abuse of the new system.
The ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice is understandably controversial: as Google notes on its new Search Removal Request form, it is now responsible for helping European citizens remove search results in which the indicated content is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed.”
A portion of the form Google recently made available for requesting that it remove specific search results.
Google now finds itself in the unenviable position of rendering judgments on what could be a flood of requests. The company has indicated that it won’t honor requests that run afoul of public interest, such as situations in which people are trying to expunge information about criminal wrongdoing.
If you’re planning to make a request, you’ll find that the form is easy enough to fill out but you’ll need to prove your identity to Google. That’s a step that may help deter some abuse of the new system.
