In a landmark ruling, a top court in Europe has said Google does not have to apply the right to be forgotten globally. The ruling comes after a dispute between a French privacy regulator and Google. Privacy has become a battleground for internet giants in Europe. Google has faced numerous privacy probes across the region, including scrutiny of contractors listening to audio from its digital home devices and data processing for ads.
Right to be forgotten - The case
Earlier in 2015, France’s privacy authority CNIL had ordered Google to globally remove search result listings to pages containing damaging or false information about a person. Thereafter, Google introduced a geoblocking feature that prevents European users from being able to see delisted links.
The feature, however, resisted censoring search results for people in other parts of the world. In turn, CNIL challenged a 100,000 ($109,901; £88,376) euro fine on Google. Tuesday’s ruling means that when Google receives an appropriate request, it needs only to remove references to online material from its search results in Europe and not elsewhere.
Google wins Right to be Forgotten case
What does the right to be forgotten mean?
Right to be forgotten means to be silent on past events that are no longer in occurrence. To put simply, the right to be forgotten allows an individual to have their information, videos, or photographs deleted from certain internet records so that they cannot be found by search engines.
How will the right to be forgotten affect Google users?
According to what Tuesday's ruling means, Google will remove references to online material from its search results in Europe after it receives a request to do so. However, internet users in other parts of the globe will not gain access to the 'right to be forgotten' option.
Right to be forgotten case in Europe
The right to be forgotten means the "right to be forgotten" option will be seen only on European versions of the Google search page - google.fr or google.de, say - but not on google.com or other domains outside the EU. Internet users, however, can still overcome the action, in case they use a virtual private network (VPN) or other tools to mask their location.
Right to be forgotten case won by Google
Why is right to be forgotten applicable only in Europe?
Google had previously warned of the dangers of over-reach by Europe. In a blog post two years ago, the company said there should be a balance between sensitive personal data and the public interest and that no one country should be able to impose its rules on citizens of another. In addition, Google has also faced a number of privacy probes across Europe over the demand to hide previous Google results.
Will the right to be forgotten affect news sites?
Several news sites are exempt from the rule. Such sites, however, may find links to some of their old articles no longer appear on Google or other search engines.
What is the right to be forgotten GDPR?
Through the GDPR, individuals gain the right to have personal data erased. The right to erasure is also known as 'the right to be forgotten'. Individuals can make a request for erasure verbally or in writing.
What is the full form of GDPR?
GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individual citizens of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). It also addresses the transfer of personal data outside the EU and EEA areas.
Also Read | Google to pay 1 bn euro fine to end French tax fraud probe
Also Read | IT Ministry partners with Google on 'Build for Digital India'
