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Google Says Time Needed to 'Forget' People

Google Says Time Needed to 'Forget' People

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 17 May 2014 12:28 IST

Google said Friday it could take weeks to devise a way to comply with a European Court of Justice ruling that it honor requests to be "forgotten."

Word that the US Internet titan is grappling with how to implement the judicial order came as it fielded requests from people who want links to deeds or critics deleted from search results.

Google did not disclose details about requests, but online reports indicated they include a pedophile and a politician who want references to their pasts to vanish.

The EU's top court ruled Tuesday that individuals have the right to ask the US Internet giant to delete personal data and "be forgotten" online under certain circumstances when their personal data becomes outdated or inaccurate.

(Also see: EU Court Upholds 'Right to Be Forgotten', Tells Google to Edit Results)

The decision has raised concerns about online censorship and how Internet search works in various countries.

Complicating factors include varying languages and the need to review requests to determine when online posts targeted for removal are actually in the public interest.

(Also see: Google Starts Receiving Take-Down Requests After EU Court Ruling: Report)

Google said it could take "several weeks" to work out a system to comply with the ruling.

Analysts said the global impact of the ruling was not immediately clear, but that it could raise some tricky issues in Europe and beyond.

Worries also arose that letting people edit their online histories could hamper investigative journalism.

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