Google set for EU showdown over privacy
Release time:2016-12-15

Google is set to be hauled over the coals by privacy watchdogs over its implementation of the European ’s right to be forgotten rule.

The search giant has launched an online form to enable European users to request the removal of information about themselves Google’s results. According to the BBC, Google has already received around 70,000 requests.

However, Google has been accused of undermining the new rules because it will only remove links its European search sites, meaning anyone can access restricted information about a person if they switch to the U.S. version of Google.

Reuters reports that the EU’s data protection authorities are meeting representatives Google, Microsoft and Yahoo on Thursday to discuss how they are implementing the new privacy rules.

Unnamed sources cited by the news agency claim that the EU is particularly unhappy with how Google is upholding European citizens’ right to be forgotten.

The new rules stem  a landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in May that said an individual can request to have information about them removed search results provided said information is proven to be outdated or irrelevant.