Google is not going to apply the right to be forgotten worldwide

Google refuses to comply with a French demand to exercise the right to be forgotten in its search engine worldwide. The company points out that European legislation does not apply globally, so only European search results will remain censored.

On its blog, Google explains why there will be no global right to be forgotten. The company claims to comply with European law, which requires that search results that refer to a person must be removed on request, in the event that they are no longer relevant. Despite this, the internet giant believes that no country should have the power to determine search results worldwide. Similarly, there are countries, such as Thailand, Turkey and Russia, that want unwelcome search results removed, but global compliance with these demands would be bad for freedom of expression, Google argues.

With the blog post, Google is responding to a summons from the French privacy watchdog CNIL, which last month demanded that the right to be forgotten should also be implemented in non-European search engines. The organization set a term of fifteen days, but these have already expired. CNIL has not yet announced the sanctions for non-compliance with the summons. The privacy watchdog has also not yet responded to Google’s refusal to apply the right to be forgotten worldwide. CNIL can advise on sanctions, but cannot impose fines itself.

Google has now processed more than 250,000 requests to be forgotten for its European search engines. Anyone who believes that a reference to his or her person is no longer relevant can submit a request to be forgotten. A special form must be completed for this purpose.