Brussels, 15/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - One year on from the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the “right to be forgotten” on the internet, 80 academics wrote an open letter to US giant Google on Thursday 14 May, complaining about the company's lack of transparency in implementing the judgment.
In May 2014, in a case between a Spanish national and Google, the Court ruled that, if requested by internet users, search engines must delist links that are no longer relevant because they are inaccurate, excessive or harmful (see EUROPE 11078).
Since then, Google has provided a request form and has dealt with 253,617 requests that have led to the removal of 920,258 links. Nonetheless, the internet giant has approved only 40% of the requests submitted. In their open letter, the academics state that the public should be better informed about what kind and quantity of information is being removed from search results, and what kinds of requests fail. They also want to know what Google's guidelines are in terms of striking the balance between individual privacy and freedom of expression.
In its ruling, the Court stated that, subject to certain conditions, individuals should be able to have links to internet pages containing personal information delisted. This was not to be systematic, the Court said, but it did not set out how this delisting was to be done, leaving that to Google or legislators.
Facebook in spotlight in Belgium. In addition to the proceedings initiated in Europe against Google, a further front has been opened against Facebook. On 13 May, the Belgian committee on privacy issued a recommendation against Facebook, establishing that the social network processes the personal data not only of its members and users but also of any internet user who comes in contact with Facebook products and services.
“Facebook processes the data in secret: no consent is sought for tracking or the use of cookies. No precise information is provided. The available information is vague and, in fact, authorises virtually anything”, the committee says. It advises internet users to “use browser add-ons which block tracking or their browser's protected mode” (our translation). (Solenn Paulic)