The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled a few weeks ago that Europeans have the right to be forgotten online of they so choose. Google has been forced to allow individuals to have certain links and content removed from search results and will begin doing so starting today.
Individuals who want content removed need to fill out an online form (seen in part below), at which point Google will then decide if the particular request is worthy of action or not. The particular form in question is now publicly available online and appears much the way you might expect.
Google is not just adhering to every request though, the company said it will not be removing important data the public has a right to know, but rather only personal info that may be detrimental to an individuals privacy or life situation. For example, public figures looking to get embarrassing information removed will likely be disappointed, according to Page, Google has the right to reject the request if the information in question is in the public interest.
Google already has similar takedown infrastructure in place when it comes to child pornography and copyright infringement, so according to Google co-founder Larry Page, this won’t be a new thing for the search giant. The company is said to be putting together a group of third party experts that will hold hearings regarding Google’s new privacy responsibilities in Europe.
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