Removal of Google personal information could become work intensive

Europe News.Net Sunday 1st June, 2014

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - Google has revealed it received thousands of requests on Friday from people who wish to expunge personal details from the search engine.

The company said it received 12,000 requests on the first day of its "to be forgotten" campaign, in which Europeans have been given court backing to have certain links removed.

The European Court of Justice decided in May that individuals should have information about them deleted in certain circumstances where data could be considered to be inaccurate or out of date.

Europeans now have a Google on-line section in which they can request that personal material be taken down from Internet searches.

Google has agreed it will adhere to the court's ruling and examine each request to ensure its own criteria are not breached.

The ruling on the right to be forgotten came following requests from people who wished to protect their reputations.

When a Spanish man first objected to Google articles about his home being repossessed, the European courts took up his argument to toughen privacy rules.

Google has said the outcome of the court case was disappointing while the CEO of the company, Larry Page said many celebrities requesting the removal of links to embarrassing information could be disappointed.

The "forgotten" service is so far only available to Europeans.