Google puts up webform for right to be forgotten

Google on Thursday put online a webform that will allow Europeans to apply to be “forgotten” by its search engine. The move is to comply with a ruling by the European Court of Justice that individuals should have links to stories suppressed in certain circumstances.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg Cour de justice de l'Union européenne

To comply with the 13 May ruling Google has posted a webform that EU citizens can submit to a committee that will “make difficult judgments individual's right to be forgotten and the public's right to know”, a statement by a Google spokeperson said.

The committee includes former Google chief Eric Schmidt, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Oxford Internet Institute ethics professor Luciano Floridi, Leuven University law school director Peggy Valcke, former Spanish data protection agency director Jose Luis Pinar and UN envoy on freedom of expression Frank La Rue.

Applicants must scan a form of photo identification such as national identity cards or drivers' licenses and electronically sign the request.

Google, whose search engine handles more than 90 per cent of web searches in Europe, has not said how quickly information can be removed.