Google loses ‘right to be forgotten’ case in EU ruling on data privacy
Top court rules individuals have the 'right to be forgotten' and to ask for data to be removed
In a surprise ruling, the EU's top court said individuals had the right to ask US internet giant Google to delete personal data produced by its ubiquitous search engine.
Taking up a complaint concerning a Spanish citizen, the European Court of Justice said individuals had the right "to be forgotten" under certain circumstances when their personal data becomes outdated or inaccurate.
Specifically, this applies when such data "appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purpose for which they were processed and in the light of the time that has elapsed".
This is a disappointing ruling for search engines and online publishers
This was based on the finding that under current EU data protection norms, "an internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data".
Google said the ruling was a disappointment and at odds with an opinion last year delivered by one of the ECJ's top lawyers.
"This is a disappointing ruling for search engines and online publishers in general," the company said in a statement.
Google has previously argued that it is responsible only for finding the information. As long as this is correct and legal, it believes it should not be obliged to delete such data, which it argues amounts to censorship.