Google has received fresh takedown requests after a European court ruled that an individual could force it to remove “irrelevant and outdated” search results, the BBC has learned.
An ex-politician seeking re-election has asked to have links to an article about his behaviour in office removed.
A man convicted of possessing child abuse images has requested links to pages about his conviction to be wiped.
And a doctor wants negative reviews from patients removed from the results.
The original case was brought by a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed home on Google’s search results had infringed his privacy.
The ruling surprised many because it contradicted the advice of the European Union’s advocate general who said last year that search engines were not obliged to honour such requests.
EU Commissioner Viviane Reding described the decision as “a clear victory for the protection of personal data of Europeans” but others are concerned about the consequences that it will have for free speech.
Bron