RightToBeForgotten
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Google told it doesn't have to apply 'right to be forgotten' results globally
In a landmark privacy case, an EU court has ruled that Google does not have to apply "right to be forgotten" laws globally. That means it will only need to remove disputed search results in Europe, and nowhere else, after receiving an approved takedown request.
EU courts told 'right to be forgotten' law should not apply globally
Europe's "right to be forgotten" law has consistently proven challenging since it was passed in 2014. For starters, requests may only be granted if information is considered "inadequate" or "irrelevant", but there's no clear ruleset for those terms, meaning it's essentially up to Google to decide what's eligible (and it's picky -- of 2.4 million requests submitted across four years, the search giant complied with only 43.3 percent). And as the law exists only in Europe, there's confusion over the applicability of the legislation to search results from other regions. If someone from the UK wants a result scrubbed, does Google have to remove it from its US domain too? Well according to a new non-binding ruling from one of Europe's senior chief advisors, the answer is no.
Google loses 'right to be forgotten' case over man's past conviction
Google has usually been reluctant to honor European Union "right to be forgotten" requests when people are trying to hide past convictions, but it may have to change its stance going forward. A UK judge has ruled that Google must honor a request to erase search results for a man who had been convicted of conspiracy to intercept communications more than a decade ago. The unnamed plaintiff had shown remorse for his actions, the judge said, and the offense was relatively minor.
Google releases info on 2.4 million 'right to be forgotten' requests
Google has received 2.4 million "right to be forgotten" requests since 2014, most of which came from private individuals, according to its latest transparency report. Europe's biggest court passed the right to be forgotten law in 2014, compelling the tech titan to remove personal info from its search engine upon request. In the report, Google has revealed that it complied with 43.3 percent of all the requests it's gotten and has also detailed the nature of those takedown pleas.
UK publishes first draft of new, stricter data protection laws
The UK's Data Protection Act 1998 is staring retirement in the face, as the government has now published the first draft of the new Data Protection Bill designed to replace it. We actually know quite a bit about the bill already. It was first mentioned in the Queen's Speech in June, with many of the finer details revealed last month. Among the headline provisions is a new power for the public to request social networks delete anything they posted before the age of 18, informally known as "the right to innocence."
New data privacy laws will let Brits erase childhood social posts
The UK's Data Protection Act began looking long in the tooth some time ago. It was introduced in 1998 when the internet was a very different place, after all, and today the government has published more details on the upcoming Data Protection Bill, which will update laws to ensure they're fit for the hyper-connected era. Delivering on a Conservative Party manifesto pledge, the bill will introduce a new right for people to instruct social networks to delete anything they posted before the age of 18.
Canada says court order to pull Google results applies worldwide
In 2012, Canadian manufacturer Equustek asked Google to remove search results relating to a court case against Datalink, a distributor of the former company's network devices. While Google complied with the request, it only did so in Canada itself. The Supreme Court then ordered Google to remove search results pertaining to the issue in all countries Google operated in. Google appealed the decision, arguing that the order went against its own freedom of expression. The court has now rejected the company's argument. The majority decision says that Canadian courts may in fact grant injunctions that compel compliance anywhere in the world.
France fines Google for breaking 'right to be forgotten' law
Europe's "right to be forgotten" law is a boon to privacy, helping individuals hide embarrassing Facebook posts and other "out-of-date and irrelevant" results from search engines. However, many think it tramples on the public's right to know, as quite a few examples have shown. Everyone agrees that it's hard to enforce, thanks to the border-free nature of the internet. The law is about to get a new test, because France has slapped a €100,000 ($112,000) fine on Google over its refusal to fully remove results on sites outside the nation.
Google changes how it scrubs 'right to be forgotten' people
Google confirmed today that it is adjusting how it handles "right to be forgotten" requests from EU citizens. Since 2014, when EU's Court of Justice established its "right to be forgotten" law, Google has been scrubbing information deemed "inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant or excessive and in the public interest" from its European servers. That means if someone in France makes a delisting request, Google will scrub that info from Google.fr, Google.uk and the rest -- but not from its global Google.com.
Google will make it easier to be 'forgotten' online in Europe
Google has been complying with the European Union's "right to be forgotten" laws for nearly two years now, but it hasn't always been easy. Up until this point, Google has been reviewing and potentially removing information related to a search for a person's name that appears to be "inadequate or irrelevant." But thus far, it's only been removing those results from the search engine in the country that the request originated from -- for example, Google.fr search results would omit information for a French citizen's request, but the data could still be found on Google.com.
Google scours 1.2 million URLs to conform with EU's 'right to be forgotten'
While still fighting it in the courts, Google has been complying with the EU's 'right to be forgotten' ruling. In a transparency report, the search giant stated that is has evaluated 1,234,092 URLs from 348,085 requests since May 29, 2014. Of those, 42 percent of the URLs have been removed from search results. When deciding which results stay and which get disappeared from results, it says, "Google must consider the rights of the individual as well as public interest in the content." Unsurprising, the top site to have its search results scrubbed is Facebook.
UK orders Google to kill links to 'right to be forgotten' stories
The whole point of the European Union's "right to be forgotten" laws is to remove links to irrelevant or outdated data about a persons life from Google, but a vicious cycle of news about the removal of links to news is making that impossible. Think about it: Google removes links about your sordid past from its search engine, but then adds a news story about that link removal that still includes your name and the old misdemeanor. Yeah, it's kind of messy -- which is why a UK court is ordering Google to remove links to stories about removing links that can be found by searching for the original complainant's name.
Google's hidden data reveals details of 'right to be forgotten' requests
The Internet is unforgiving. Web search engines like Google neatly index the most embarrassing moments, traumatic histories and criminal activities. In May last year, the European Court of Justice asked the web giant to remove website links that were no longer relevant to people's lives. The ruling recognized that archiving people's lives often took their personal moments out of context, creating "detailed but selective profiles". Since the sweeping decision did not exclude killers or even terrorists from the "right to be forgotten", it was largely believed that the requests that poured in were from criminals or public figures looking to erase their pasts. But The Guardian recently discovered data in Google's transparency report that was never meant to be public. An analysis of the source code reveals that 95 percent of the requests came in from ordinary people looking to delist personal information that is irrelevant or is just plain embarrassing.
Google tosses 59 percent of Europe's 'right to be forgotten' requests
How is the European Union's "right to be forgotten" faring a year after it kicked in? If you ask Google, it's more than a little messy. The internet firm has published an updated Transparency Report which reveals that the company rejected about 59 percent of the search result takedown requests received to date. While it doesn't break down exactly why it's tossing those requests, its examples typically include criminals trying to hide their unpleasant pasts and professionals embarrassed by their earlier work. And to no one's surprise, the top sites under the crosshairs are typically social services like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
European Union tells search sites how to handle your 'right to be forgotten'
When the European Union first put the "right to be forgotten" into effect, it didn't really give search sites much help. Should search listings disappear simply because they're embarrassing? What if you're a notable figure? At last, though, there are some clearer answers. The European Commission has published guidelines that tell search providers how to handle your takedown requests. For the most part, the recommendations line up with what Google has been doing so far. Websites have to balance your privacy demands against the public's rights; a search firm can pull details of your personal life, for instance, but it can refuse to hide criminal convictions or your official work record.
European Union wants Google to extend 'right to be forgotten' worldwide
The European Union wants Google to extend the range and impact of the "right to be forgotten" measures that passed earlier this year. The proposal would take the current limitation of EU-only domains like those ending in ".fr" and ".co.uk," and open it to traditional ".com" URLs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Meaning, it'd help to close the current loophole that lets you sidestep any removed websites where unflattering information might exist simply by searching on Google.com as opposed to a European variation like Google.de.
Google details how Europeans are wielding their 'right to be forgotten'
It's no secret that plenty of people are using (and abusing) the European Union's "right to be forgotten" online, but have you wondered just how these requests tend to break down? You won't have to wonder for much longer. Google has updated its Transparency Report with a new section for European search removal requests, letting you see how many requests it gets in a given EU country, how often it honors them and which websites are typically affected.
Artist gets Google results removed to 'highlight' his new work
Ever since Google announced that it's complying with the European Commission's "right to be forgotten" ruling, it's been inundated with requests to take down all sorts of search results. Many of those sought to bury negative reviews or write-ups, but in this particular case, the search result Google took down was neither negative nor damaging. In fact, it used to lead to a five-year-old article published on Worcester News, which called the piece's subject (an artist by the name of Dan Roach) "excellent" and "very talented." That's right -- you can apparently ask Google to remove anything from its results pages in the European Union, even if it's not dangerous or offensive... and maybe even if it's helpful to some people. Worcester News editor Peter John was so dismayed by what happened, that he called it "the most absurd and silly piece of censorship" when he talked to The Guardian.
Google explains how it handles Europeans' requests to be forgotten online
Google has previously offered a little bit of insight into how it handles (and occasionally mishandles) the EU's "right to be forgotten" (RTBF) requests, but it has largely been a nebulous process. How do you know whether or not you'll be scrubbed from search results? Well, things just got a little bit clearer: the company has published a letter to the EU explaining how it manages those demands for obscurity. The internet firm says it weighs both the nature of targeted sites and prominence of a person against the "general economic interest" to provide an accurate search engine. It's likely to remove results for an embarrassing blog post, for example, but it will likely turn you down if you're trying to hide court rulings or censor less-than-flattering news.
Microsoft lets the EU exercise its 'right to be forgotten' on Bing
Microsoft is clearly taking a cautious stance on the European Union's "right to be forgotten;" several weeks after Google started accepting requests to scrub yourself out of search results, you can finally ask for the same treatment on Bing. The company has posted a form that walks EU residents through the request process, giving them a relatively easy way to block offending pages from showing up in queries.
