ICO orders Google to remove links to right to be forgotten takedowns

Journalistic interests

Google had refused the complainant’s request for these later links to be removed from search results, arguing that these links were to articles that concerned one of its decisions to delist a search result and that the articles were an essential part of a recent news story relating to a matter of significant public importance.

The ICO said its ruling recognised journalistic content relating to decisions to delist search results may be newsworthy and in the public interest. But the ruling confirms that this does not justify including links to that content when a Google search is made by entering the affected individual’s name, as this has an “unwarranted and negative impact on the individual’s privacy” and is a breach of the Data Protection Act.

Deputy commissioner David Smith said the European court ruling in May 2014 was clear that links prompted by searching on an individual’s name are subject to data protection rules.

“That means they shouldn’t include personal information that is no longer relevant,” he said

Takedown requests were reportedly submitted within a day of the European court ruling, forcing Google to scramble to introduce an online application form for Europeans who wanted personal data to be removed from online search results.

Smith said it is wrong of Google to refuse to remove newer links that reveal the same details and have the same negative impact as the previously removed links.

“Let’s be clear. We understand that links being removed as a result of this court ruling is something that newspapers want to write about. And we understand that people need to be able to find these stories through search engines like Google. But that does not need them to be revealed when searching on the original complainant’s name,” he said.

The ICO has issued an enforcement notice requiring the links to be removed from the search results in 35 days.

Google has not responded to requests for comments on the ICO’s enforcement notice, according to the Guardian.

While the ICO’s enforcement order applies only in the UK, Wall Street Journal blogger Sam Schechner said it could provide an example for other countries, potentially provoking a new wave of takedown requests of stories about takedown requests – and a subsequent wave of stories about those new requests.

“That will also give ammunition to free speech advocates and privacy activists in their tussle over where to draw the line between privacy and the public’s right to know–and whether Google should be notifying websites of removals under the right to be forgotten,” he wrote.