Europe’s highest court earlier this month has allowed its residents to ask search engine’s to delete online results about themselves. And now the Google right to be forgotten form is here.
The case against the search engine giant dates back to 1998, when a Spanish newspaper published an article about Mario Costeja Gonzalez’s social security debt. Gonzalez’s numerous attempts to have the article removed were denied. Upon filing a complaint with Spanish data protection authorities, the article was ordered for removal in 2010. Google appealed this decision in 2013, and won, citing search engines are not required by law to remove legal public data. But the ruling was over turned again this month.
On the right to be forgotten form, Google asks people to explain why a URL contains information that is “irrelevant, outdated, or otherwise inappropriate.” It also asks for “a clear, readable copy of your valid driver’s license, national ID card, or other photo ID” to verify that impersonators aren’t using the form. If approved, the link will be removed from search engine results, but not the Internet.
However, not everything may qualify for removal. Criminal records, professional malpractice, financial scams, and public conduct of government officials data may not be removed.