Google grapples with Europe’s ‘right to be forgotten’ – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2015-11-25T19:49:58+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/5661450 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Google ‘right to be forgotten’ requests keep piling up]]> https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/25/9801130/google-transparency-report-right-to-be-forgotten-2015 2015-11-25T14:49:58-05:00 2015-11-25T14:49:58-05:00

Europe's "right to be forgotten" rules remain a growing issue for Google. Today, the company released its twice-yearly transparency report, detailing the requests it's received for copyright takedowns, user data, and the removal of search results that point to inadequate or irrelevant information about a European citizen. Since the policy was put into place last May, Google reports that it's received 348,085 total requests to remove links, covering a total of 1,234,092 URLs. Around 42 percent of the links (excluding cases that are still pending) ended up being removed.

These results represent a relatively steady increase since mid-2015, whe …

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]]> Jacob Kastrenakes <![CDATA[UK regulator orders Google to pull ‘right to be forgotten’ removal stories]]> https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/20/9182635/google-right-forgotten-request-stories-must-be-removed 2015-08-20T13:03:58-04:00 2015-08-20T13:03:58-04:00

Google and European regulators continue to fight over which links ought to be removed under the controversial "right to be forgotten." In an order this week, regulators have taken issue over a decision by Google not to remove nine links, which the company argued were newsworthy. It's among the more complicated situations that have come up: the links are to articles about the right to be forgotten, but they reference a specific person who successfully had Google remove results about an old crime. Google says the results are of significant public importance and ought to be presented; regulators argue that they undermine the right to be forgott …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Google rejects French request for broader ‘right to be forgotten’ rules]]> https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/30/9073631/google-france-cnil-right-to-be-forgotten-search 2015-07-30T12:07:05-04:00 2015-07-30T12:07:05-04:00

Google is pushing back against a request to expand the scope of Europe's "right to be forgotten" law. Last year, the European Union Court of Justice ruled that citizens of its member states could ask Google to delist search results that were irrelevant, out of date, or fit a mix of similar criteria. Google, which says it's received 290,000 requests since the rule took effect, has responded by removing information from country-specific versions of Google across Europe. But last month, French data privacy agency CNIL requested that the rule apply across all Google search pages.

"This is a troubling development that risks serious chilling effe …

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]]> Russell Brandom <![CDATA[A new look at the people erasing themselves from Google Search]]> https://www.theverge.com/2015/7/14/8960043/google-right-to-be-forgotten-requests-statistics 2015-07-14T11:07:27-04:00 2015-07-14T11:07:27-04:00

With the "right to be forgotten" now firmly established in European law, hundreds of millions of people can now ask to be delisted by Google, effectively erasing themselves from Google Search. A new report from The Guardian digs into who has been using the new feature, using information accidentally revealed in the source code of Google's recent transparency report. The new data covers the 218,320 requests that were made between May 2014 and March 2015, roughly three-quarters of the total requests, slightly less than half of which (101,461) resulted in a successful delisting. The data has also been published on GitHub, and is open for deeper …

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]]> Chris Welch <![CDATA[Google has already hidden as many as 100,000 search results in Europe]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/25/5936509/google-has-hidden-tens-of-thousands-search-results-in-europe 2014-07-25T10:35:02-04:00 2014-07-25T10:35:02-04:00

The "right to be forgotten" is already having a huge impact on Google's search results. Since the landmark May ruling, Google has removed "tens of thousands" of links - potentially over 100,000 - pertaining to Europeans who've filed to have that information hidden from web users. According to a Wall Street Journal source, 91,000 people have so far asked Google to pull down links for 328,000 URLs. But the company hasn't yet gotten around to processing all those requests.

Of those it has, Google says it's removed results in over 50 percent of cases. That suggests Google is working in broad strokes as it responds to the European Union's contro …

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]]> Tom Warren <![CDATA[Bing follows Google in allowing Europeans to be forgotten online]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/17/5911685/bing-right-to-be-forgotten-form 2014-07-17T03:46:03-04:00 2014-07-17T03:46:03-04:00

Microsoft has begun accepting requests to remove results on Bing for searches on some individuals in Europe. The move follows similar changes by Google, after a landmark ruling by the European Union Court of Justice determined that it's Google and Microsoft's responsibility to remove outdated or "irrelevant" search results hosted by third parties. Microsoft's request form includes questions about requestors roles in society, and requires ID to verify individuals.

While Microsoft has remained quiet on the EU ruling, Google has publicly stated its problems with the judgement, saying that it contradicts the information on freedom of expression in …

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]]> Rich McCormick <![CDATA[Google’s top lawyer says EU’s ‘right to be forgotten’ restricts freedom of expression]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/11/5889133/google-top-lawyer-says-right-to-be-forgotten-restricts-rights 2014-07-11T02:13:41-04:00 2014-07-11T02:13:41-04:00

Google's chief legal officer has explained why the company disagrees with the EU's recent ruling that people have the "right to be forgotten" by its search engine. Writing in The Guardian, David Drummond explains the search giant's problems with the judgement, saying that it contradicts the information on freedom of expression in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that the language used by the court means the removal of results comes after "very vague and subjective tests" as to whether the information is of public interest.

Google suggests the EU's ruling contradicts the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Drummond s …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Google takes down links to British journalism under ‘right to be forgotten’ rule]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/3/5867477/google-takes-down-links-to-british-journalism-under-right-to-be-forgotten 2014-07-03T09:31:37-04:00 2014-07-03T09:31:37-04:00

The "right to be forgotten," a rule handed down last month by the EU, is supposed to allow individuals to get "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant" results removed from Google Search. It was put in place after a Spanish citizen complained that searches for his name brought up a 1998 announcement that his house was being sold to cover social security debts. But now, The Guardian, the BBC, and others are reporting that it's being used to cover up embarrassing news stories. Yesterday, The Guardian's James Ball said Google notified him that six articles from the site were being purged from European versions of the search engine. Three …

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]]> Colin Lecher <![CDATA[This site is trying to make Google forget you]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/24/5838716/forgetme-google-right-to-be-forgotten 2014-06-24T15:52:18-04:00 2014-06-24T15:52:18-04:00

A controversial ruling from a European court recently granted people the so-called "right to be forgotten," forcing Google to remove some search links upon request. If you'd like a medium for sending such a request, Forget.me will now step in, spiriting away everything about you.

There's no legal jargon to speak of

The site, a European privacy advocacy project, gives requesters a step-by-step procedure for lodging a request with Google, no knowledge on the finer points of law required. Log in, choose your country, perform a search for yourself, select the offending link, decide on which category your request falls under, and ship it all off …

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]]> Chris Welch <![CDATA[Google may indicate when search has been censored over ‘right to be forgotten’]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/9/5793062/google-may-indicate-when-search-censored-right-to-be-forgotten 2014-06-09T10:14:08-04:00 2014-06-09T10:14:08-04:00

Google may be planning to alert users whenever search results have been wiped away thanks to a controversial European court ruling. That decision, handed down last month, has allowed Europeans to censor search by asking Google to pull down "irrelevant" and otherwise sensitive personal results. It's referred to as "the right to be forgotten," but Google seems to think web users also have a right to know when their search experience has been altered. If implemented, The Guardian says these notifications would resemble existing alerts that Google displays if results have been hidden in response to copyright complaints. Google could also shine a …

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