Mark Miclette discusses how Google is struggling to Implement the Right to be Forgotten

1. Google Struggles to Implement the Right to be Forgotten
A recent ruling in a European Court has granted a bit of power in search engine results to the
people. The ruling indicated that complaints can be filed with Google that, if granted, will allow
the individual to have certain links removed from their search engine results. However, the
ruling has created a bit of a debacle for Google, which is still struggling to implement a smooth
system of combing through complaints and granting the requests. According to an article
recently completed by The Guardian, Google recently suffered an error, in which they removed
links to six articles completed by the organization; the mistaken removed links have since been
reinstated.!
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The ruling, which is being entitled as the Right to be Forgotten, indicates that Google is required
to remove links that provide “inadequate, irrelevant or…excessive” information from search
results in European countries if the subject of the search or the page at hand files a complaint.
While this idea seems very fair and just on the surface, it has presented a difficult time for
Google, which is still struggling two months down the line to firm up a policy and procedure for
dealing with requests. The company spoke with The Guardian to state their opinion on the
matter; although they oppose the ruling, they are working on a means of implementing the
judgment handed down by the court.!
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In the course of doing so, Google has stumbled upon a few errors. The Guardian received
notification that contents from six of their articles was removed from some European search
results. Google was contacted and the error was brought to attention; four articles have been
reinstated and an apology has been issued.!
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Thus far, Google has received two hundred and fifty thousand requests to remove or reinstate
content from search results; these complaints have been filed from more than seventy thousand
people. With this sheer volume alone, it is not hard to believe that Google has struggled not
only with implementing a system, but with maintaining any form of accuracy in their executions.
Google officials have gone on record as saying they are actively working to decipher how to
implement the ruling, while still attempting to maintain a balance between one person’s right to
privacy and another’s right to know.