Thanks to a recent decision made by the European Commission regarding the “right to be forgotten,” Google has introduced a new feature as a response to this development. This new feature enables individuals to make requests for the removal of webpages that include their personal information from search results. In accordance with the ruling, Google has affirmed its dedication to adhering to the directive by eliminating search results deemed as “irrelevant, outdated, or excessive for their original purposes.” This move underscores Google’s commitment to safeguarding individuals’ privacy and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. The introduction of this feature reflects Google’s proactive stance in addressing privacy concerns and aligning with legal standards, demonstrating a step towards enhancing user control over their online information. The emphasis on removing search results that are no longer relevant or necessary highlights Google’s effort to balance freedom of information
Best of all, while this is an EU ruling, nowhere that I can see is Google limiting search engine result removal to EU citizens. On the request form, Google does ask for a form of photo ID and what country’s laws apply to your request, but Google also states specifically that the photo ID requested doesn’t need to be government issued. That opens up an opportunity for US and other non-EU residents to also clear their names if they need to do so.
The goal here to allow people to protect their reputations in an age where data is never forgotten.
However, there are limits to what Google will remove. For example, Google states that they will “look at whether the results include outdated information about you, as well as whether there’s a public interest in the information—for example, information about financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions, or public conduct of government officials.”
So if you’ve ever been convicted (or even charged, probably) of some kind of wrongdoing, it’s unlikely Google will remove references the such an event.
If that’s not a problem for you and you’d like to ask Google for help removing search engine results, you can find the form to do so here: Google Search Engine Removal
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