According to a ruling from a European court, all European users have the “right to be forgotten” from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s search result pages. This means that users can remove their personal information from Google’s search index. In fact, we’ve even written a guide on how to use Google’s “right to be forgotten” tool.
According to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, links should be removed if they are “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed.”
How Forget.me works
Of course, you can use the tool Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) provides, but there’s now a quicker and easier alternative called Forget.me. This site lets you go through a step-by-step procedure for filing a request with Google without any legal knowledge.
First, you’ll need to register by clicking on the “Get Started” button from the home page. Next, choose your country, perform a search of your name, select the offending link that you want to remove from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG), decide on the category and then submit it. Forget.me also tracks the links that you’ve requested to be removed from Google, and once the links are removed, it informs you.
Although Google’s tool is not that difficult to use, this new tool simplifies the whole process. You might not be familiar with the legal language, and that’s why, rather than explaining your own reason for removal, you simply decide on the approximate category on Forget.me, and it will guide you towards the correct reason.
Right now, the right to be forgotten only applies to persons residing in Europe who wish to de-index a web page pertaining to them. So if you don’t live in Europe, then unfortunately you will not be able to use the Forget.me tool. However, other countries, including Hong Kong and Singapore, have requested that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) work with them to develop a similar “right to be forgotten” system for their citizens.
