Search engine formalising procedure to deal with more than 70,000 requests for links to be removed after EU ruling fallout

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Google launched a dedicated page on Friday to publicise its advisory council on the right to be forgotten case which invites the public to submit their comments on the ruling and how the search giant should apply it.

The European court of justice ruling means that anyone living in Europe has the right to ask search engines to remove links to stories which include their name.

The company has since received more than 70,000 requests and has said that each of these needs to be assessed by a lawyer. It has started recruiting a new team of legal staff to work through the applications, it is understood.

"In order to help us navigate this issue we are setting up an advisory council to gather input from Europeans," the advisory council page states. "The advisory council will hold consultations in Europe this fall, which we intend to stream live and record."

It will also invite contributions from the technology and media industries as well as government and acandemia, but Google has also asked the public to contribute through the advisory council page.

"For each of these requests, we’re required to weigh, on a case-by-case basis, an individual’s right to be forgotten with the public’s right to know," says the page.

"We want to strike this balance right. This obligation is a new and difficult challenge for us, and we’re seeking advice on the principles Google ought to apply when making decisions on individual cases."

The page asks each commenter whether they are happy for their submission to be made public.

The council of 10 appointees, headed by Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt and chief legal officer David Drummond, includes academics, technologists, legal experts and a journalist.



Sylvie Kaufmann is editorial director at Le Monde, Luciano Floridi is a professor of philosophy and information ethics at the Oxford Internet Institute and José-Luis Piñar has worked in various legal roles including as former director of the Spanish Data Protection Agency.

Lidia Kolucka-Zuk is a trained lawyer and former executive director of the Trust for Civil Society based in Warsaw, and Frank La Rue's work in human rights has included conflict negotiation and a role as special rapporteur for UN human rights council.

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger is a German MP and former justice minister, Jimmy Wales co-founded Wikipedia and Peggy Valcke is a research professor in media and telecoms regulation, online journalism and privacy and social networks.

"The experts' public report will include recommendations for particularly difficult removal requests (such as criminal convictions); thoughts on the implications of the court's decision for European internet users, news publishers, search engines and others; and procedural steps that could improve accountability and transparency for websites and citizens," wrote Drummond in the Guardian on Thursday.

• Google admits errors over Guardian 'right to be forgotten' link deletions

• Things to remember about Google and the right to be forgotten

• We need to talk about the right to be forgotten

