EU privacy ruling knocks Google
Thu 15 May 2014
When there is a lot of comment and opinion flying around following a legal ruling, it is always good to read the informed, calm and learned opinion of @thecloudlawyer aka Frank Jennings.
In this article he explains that Google has been required to remove links to some very old reports of a Spanish citizen’s social security debts under the “right to be forgotten”. This ruling is based on the existing Data Protection Directive that data must be “adequate, relevant and not excessive” and “accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date”.
One interesting question he addresses is why Google is subject to European law but more interesting is why it has picked on Google for recovering the item and not the original publisher.
Excerpt
“This case was about information that is historically accurate but no longer up-to-date. Google doesn’t hold that information but it must prevent it from showing up in its search results unless that data is in the public interest or if it is necessary to remain online for the use of other people. How will search engine operators work that out? Will they evaluate each request in future? Or will they simply extend their complaints policy to include automatic removal of personal data on request? Will removing data from search results amount to a form of censorship? And will this ultimately affect the accuracy of search engines?”
To read the full article please click here
