Google
has begun removing some search results to comply with a European Union ruling
upholding citizens' right to have objectionable personal information about them
hidden in search engines.
The
so-called "right to be forgotten" was upheld by Europe's top court on
May 13 when it ordered Google (GOOGL.O) to remove a link to a 15-year-old
newspaper article about a Spanish man's bankruptcy.
"This
week we're starting to take action on
removals requests that we've
received," a Google spokesman said on Thursday. "This is a new
process for us. Each request has to be assessed individually and we're working
as quickly as possible to get through the queue."
Google
received over 41,000 requests over four days after it put up an online form
allowing Europeans to request that search results be removed.
Internet
privacy concerns shot up the agenda last year when former U.S. National
Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of mass U.S.
surveillance program involving European citizens and some heads of state.
The
EU executive has been critical of several major U.S. web companies, such as
Facebook and Google, over their handling of swathes of personal data. National
governments recently moved towards extending Europe's strict data protection
rules to all companies, not just European ones.
Reuters
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