Google bombarded by Brits who want to be forgotten
Google says it has received 18,304 requests from Britons asking it to remove information about their past under the EU’s “right to be forgotten” legislation. The submissions came from more than 6,000 people who asked the search engine to erase links to more than 60,000 websites. Altogether just over 145,000 requests have been made to Google by people across Europe wanting to cover up their past.
In evaluating a request, we will look at whether the results include outdated or inaccurate information about the person.
The controversial ‘right to be forgotten’ law covers the 28 countries in the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Altogether the submissions covered more than 497,000 web links, of which 42% - more than 200,000 - have been jettisoned. Among all websites, Facebook’s social network has had the most links erased so far - 3,332 - while Google’s own YouTube video site has had nearly 2,400 removed. Even when blocked from Google’s search results in Europe, however, content can still appear in listings posted in other parts of the world, including the U.S.
Technology right to be forgotten