EU court orders Google, others to comply request to remove personal information on search engines

According to a statement on a ruling today by the European Union Court of Justice, it could order Google Inc to remove personal information from its search engine after it had insisted that citizens have a right to be forgotten online, especially if there is no public interest. The EU court said that search engine owners should comply with a person's request to remove links and information about the latter in the list of results. The Luxembourg-based tribunal also said that a person could tap the assistance of a court or a data-protection authority should the company refuses.

Bloomberg said that the latest ruling on data protection could greatly impact Google, as it is currently in the middle of privacy investigations across the globe while it adds services to set up competition with Facebook Inc. Last month, the news agency noted that the company was fined a million euros or $1.38 million for its privacy violations by its Street View cars, who had since photographed people all over the world without their knowledge for its Google Maps product.

Director of information security Mark Brown at Ernst & Young LLP in London said that the EU court ruling is a very loud wakeup call to all companies who are in the business of gathering and storing consumer data. Brown also stated that majority of the companies might have been alarmed at the court of receiving and complying to a person's request to get his information deleted as the companies themselves do not know what data they currently have in possession with.

Brussels-based Google spokesman Al Verney said that the decision by the EU court was disappointing for search engines and online publishers everywhere. He added that Google will now need to analyze the implications of the ruling to its business.

London-based group Index on Censorship, who has been promoting freedom of expression worldwide, said that the court's decision have violated the right to freedom of expressions. The group added, "(The decision) opens the door to anyone who wants to whitewash their personal history (even if the information is true and factual and the original source material remains unaltered."

Tags

European Union Court of Justice, Google Maps, Index on Censorship

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