The European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday that individuals have the right to ask Internet giant Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG – news) to delete personal data produced by its ubiquitous search engine.
The European Court of Justice said an individual has the right “to be forgotten” when such personal data “appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purpose for which they were processed and in the light of the time that has elapsed.”
There was no immediate response from Google but the company, which dominates the internet search industry, has previously argued that it is responsible only for finding the information.
As long as this is correct and legal, and therefore properly part of the public record, it believes it should not be obliged to delete such data, which it argues amounts to “censorship.”
Last year, ECJ Advocate General Niilo Jaaskinen had argued that Google was not responsible for the data carried by websites appearing on its search engine and that EU citizens did not have a “right to be forgotten” under current law.
That opinion had suggested the ECJ would rule accordingly in due course and was warmly welcomed by Google.
Digital rights groups had mixed reactions to the court’s decision.
“We need to take into account individuals’ right to privacy but if search engines are forced to remove links to legitimate content that is already in the public domain but not the content itself, it could lead to online censorship,” said Javier Ruiz, Policy Director at Open Rights Group.
“This case has major implications for all kind of internet intermediaries, not just search engines.
Google currently advises users to approach websites that have published information about them as a first step in having it cleared from the Internet: once a site removes the content, Google’s result links to the material will disappear soon after.
The Mountain View, California-based company also offers a guide to users on how best to approach having personal information removed from the web.
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