In a major ruling today (May 13), Europe’s highest court told Google that people have the “right to be forgotten” and can ask the company to remove some sensitive information from Internet search results.
The decision was handed down by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union. The judges said Google must amend links to information shown to be outdated or information deemed to be irrelevant, a development that highlights ongoing battles between supporters of privacy rights and those who advocate for freedom of expression.
“If, following a search made on the basis of a person’s name, the list of results displays a link to a web page which contains information on the person in question, that data subject may approach the operator directly and, where the operator does not grant his request, bring the matter before the competent authorities in order to obtain, under certain conditions, the removal of that link from the list of results,” the judges said in their ruling.
“An Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data which appear on web pages published by third parties,” the judges added.
Eu Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said the ruling was a clear victory for the privacy of Europeans. Google called the ruling disappointing.
See more at USA Today
