Ever wish Google would somehow forget to bring up the link to
that embarrassing matter about you on the Internet? Maybe it's
a cringeworthy photo. Perhaps it's that little matter you had
before court years ago. Maybe it's those unpleasant things a
rival said about you.
Well, in a world-first landmark legal decision, the European
Court of Justice recently ruled European citizens could request
Google remove their name from certain search results. It came after
a Spanish lawyer claimed search results linking his name to a 1998
newspaper notice of a mortgage foreclosure was a breach of his
privacy.
The newspaper wasn't ordered to remove the article, but the
court said links could be removed if they were found to be
"inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant". It
didn't matter if the information was accurate, the link had to
go.
