[Blind Gossip] Following a controversial European ruling, Google has received scores of “right to be forgotten” requests, including a couple of requests from celebrities.
The European Court of Justice last week that individuals have the right to redact results on searches of their names. While the original intent was to be able to allow individuals to remove the ability to search on incorrect or out-of-date information, some view it as a way to to block unflattering or undesirable information, even if it is factually correct.
One request came from an actor who had an affair with a teenager. He wanted all references to that affair removed from the search engine.
Another request was made by the child of a celebrity who has asked for articles about their criminal convictions to be taken down
Google is reportedly working on an automated tool that will allow users to submit “right to be forgotten” requests, and is expecting a flood of demands to be pared from the search engine’s index
One of Google’s persistent fears has been that some will use the legislation to try to redact embarrassing – but legally published – details about themselves.
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