Earlier this month, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Google and other search engines must take requests from people for search results to be deleted. Search engines may not actually delete all results requested, but must consider them on a case-by-case basis, which could see them fighting in numerous court battles.
Google has already seen thousands of requests since the ruling.
Bloomberg is reporting that a Germany-based spokesperson for Google said the company does not plan to automate the handling of takedown requests, but will present the approach it does intend to take in the coming weeks.
This comes as authorities in that country are implementing a process. Patrick Donahue and Cornelius Rahn report:
Following a European Union court decision this month granting consumers the “right to be forgotten,” the Interior Ministry in Berlin would seek to establish “dispute-settlement mechanisms” for consumers who file so-called take-down requests. If search providers introduce automatic deletion, public information would be at risk, the ministry said.
“Politicians, prominent figures and other persons who are reported about in public would be able to hide or even delete reports they find unpleasant,” it said in a statement. The ministry suggested that the removal of information shouldn’t be left to company algorithms.
What could possibly go wrong?
Don’t forget to watch John Oliver’s take on the EU’s ruling. It’s pretty spot on.
Image via Google
