European Union privacy authorities invited Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) next Thursday in Brussels to discuss on the “right to be forgotten” rule passed by the European court, pertinent to which individuals can request the companies to remove the links from the search results.
Regulators demand more from Google
The Watchdogs stated that the search engine’s application of the law is raising doubts over how the court decision should be applied.
As of now, Google is not ready to remove the links from its main Google.com search engine rather it has contained the removal only to the European engine such as google.fr or google.co.uk. Such stance of the web-giant has already raised concerns among regulators, says report from the Wall Street Journal.
Gwendal Le Grand, director of technology and innovation at French watchdog Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, said, “It’s a problem we’ve clearly identified. It puts the effectiveness of the entire decision in question.”
Data regulators in Europe, who talked recently on the ‘right to be forgotten’ guidelines expected this fall, are also prepping to raise the issue of how Google sends notifications to the website in the question, according to Mr. Le Grand. Google sends a notification to the websites from where it has removed the links under the ‘right to be forgotten,’ although not revealing the name of the person, who made the request.
Regulators, also, want Google and other search engines to give appropriate information while rejecting the requests on the grounds that the information is in the public interest, and they should make their test for removing data more stringent.
No consensus yet
The court ruling has already become a challenge, where companies are facing a tight rope walk to navigate between freedom of speech and the right to online privacy, in a time when there is an instant access to data. The advocates of the law argue that the law represents a control over the power of web-giants such as Google, and supporters of free-speech have opposed the decision calling it a restriction that will clear the web of contents.
Microsoft has given its approval to attend the meet, whereas Google and Yahoo did not comment on the meeting specifically, but assured to cooperate with the privacy officials.
