Posted on 02/28/2018 8:34:18 AM PST by ptsal
Google has been flooded with 2.4 million requests from individuals and companies across Europe to be “forgotten” — that is, wiped clean from any Web search.
Most of the requests came from regular Joes wanting sensitive information — like their home address or personal photos or videos — removed from any Google search results, the company said in its annual transparency report released on Tuesday.
But among the others looking to take advantage of Europe’s 2014 “right to be forgotten” law were 41,213 requests from celebrities and 33,937 requests from politicians, Google said in the report.
The law, enacted by the European Union in May 2014, requires Google and other search engines to de-list information when a valid request is received.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
In Europe, results that are eligible to be removed must be deemed “inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive” by the search engine’s staff and must be determined to not generate significant public interest.
The 2,437,271 requests received by Google cover the period from when the law went into effect through December 2017.
Google said that it has processed 2.08 million of the requests and that 43 percent, or roughly 900,000, have been deemed valid and have been de-listed.
The right-to-be-forgotten law has been so popular that a cottage industry appears to have popped up — companies helping others make the RTBF requests. Roughly 1,000 requesters — mainly law firms and reputation-management services — accounted for 360,000, or 15 percent, of all the RTBF bids, Google said.
Whose information is it....mine or Google's????
In the US it is Googles.
I’d love to see this forced upon the US companies like Google.
Even in the EU it’s googles. They just aren’t sharing it with everybody.
What would the value of the brand be worth, if the data (asset) could walk away....be forgotten.
Now, is the time to make these companies allow you to “opt-out”.
It is next to impossible short of a court order to get Google to remove information.
Time to start the rally cry so the force of law is behind the request.
Google must change.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.