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France wants Google to make a massive global change to the 'right to be forgotten' that the search giant hates

Jun 12, 2015, 17:28 IST

Google is in for yet another European legal headache, as France tries to force the search giant to implement the highly contentious "right to be forgotten" on a global scale, the Wall Street Journal reports.

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The right to be forgotten is the principle that people should be able to appeal to search engines to have information about them that is outdated or irrelevant removed from search listings.

It was implemented in Europe following a ruling by a Spanish court in May 2014. Its introduction has pitted privacy activists against freedom of speech advocates, with the former arguing that it is necessary so that people's pasts do not hang over them forever, and the latter saying it restricts internet users' free access to information.

The news comes shortly after Google's new European chief Matt Brittin struck a conciliatory tone in his first public interview, owning up to Google's past failures in Europe.

The case for expanding the right to be forgotten

Google is strongly opposed to the right to be forgotten, but it implemented the ruling on European versions of the Google website anyway. This means European citizens can now send in requests to the search giant and, if approved, the web pages identified will be removed from search results. (The web pages themselves are not removed.) Google has approved almost 1 million requests since its introduction.

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However, the right to be forgotten is only implemented on European domains, like Google.co.uk and Google.fr - visitors to Google.com and other global versions of the site will see the full, uncensored results.

This has angered France's privacy watchdog, Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), according to the WSJ. It is now trying to force Google to implement the right to be forgotten worldwide, arguing that "In order to be effective, delisting must be carried out on all extensions of the search engine."

It would mean that if a Frenchman successfully appealed to have a URL delisted, it would be removed from search results across the globe - not just in countries where European courts have any jurisdiction.

What happens now?

Extending the right to be forgotten worldwide isn't likely to happen because it sets a dangerous precedent, in which the California-based search giant allows one country to enforce global changes to its platform. What's more, if the "right to be forgotten" was implemented in the US, it would cause outrage, since the balance between privacy and free speech tips far more strongly in favour of the latter than in Europe.

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A Google spokesperson implied that Google does not intend to expand the right to be forgotten outside of Europe, telling Business Insider that the company has "been working hard to strike the right balance in implementing the European Court's ruling, co-operating closely with data protection authorities. The ruling focused on services directed to European users, and that's the approach we are taking in complying with it."

CNIL has the power to fine Google if it doesn't comply, although Google can also challenge the order in the courts. If CNIL was determined to push its order - and Google lost in the courts - its conceivable that Google would pull its search services out of France altogether rather than comply. After all, it pulled out of Spain rather than comply with a ruling regarding its Google News platform that it considered unacceptable.

But realistically, that probably won't happen. France needs Google too much. Instead, it's a signal that French regulators (and Europe more broadly) still aren't happy with Google's conduct, and they're making their displeasure known.

Google occupies a peculiar position in Europe. It dominates the search market on the continent even more than it does in its home market, the US. In America, it holds a (desktop) search share of around 77%, while in Europe, it's more than 91%. Perhaps for this reason, the company has become the subject of considerable ire from authorities.

The issues that Google faces scrutiny over include:
  • Accusations of tax avoidance. Google - along with other Silicon Valley giants - has been attacked over financial arrangements that significantly lower its tax bills. Matt Brittin - Google Europe's new boss - was infamously grilled by British MPs over the issue (see below).
  • The right to be forgotten. Following a ruling in May 2014, European citizens can appeal to Google to have "outdated" or "irrelevant" information removed from search listings about them. Google fiercely opposes the ruling, but it has implemented the takedown system.
  • Antitrust allegations. Google dominates the European search market, with a marketshare of upwards of 90%. The European Commission has an antitrust investigation underway into Google. And in November, the European Parliament took the unprecedented step of voting to break up Google and split off its search arm. The vote was non-binding but it illustrates the level of animosity towards the search giant.
  • Publishing conflicts. Spain recently attempted to charge Google for linking to articles by Spanish publishers. Google refused to pay up, instead closing down its Google News service in the country.

At the start of June, Google's new European boss Matt Brittin - appointed in February - gave his first public interview. He admitted that Google had made mistakes in the past, and said that "as far as Europe is concerned: We get it. We understand that people here are not the same in their attitudes to everything as people in America." Brittin identified a failure of communication as part of the reason relationships have deteriorated: "We just didn't have the people on the ground to be able to have some of those conversations as we grew."

Brittin's conciliatory rhetoric suggests Google is keen to find common ground with European regulators. But CNIL's order makes clear that just admitting "we don't always get it right" isn't enough to make amends.

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