Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been told by an eight-member committee it set up that the so-called right to be forgotten, should apply only to the members of the European Union. The committee on its ruling reiterated it can only make recommendations that Google can decide to act on.
The committee made the remarks as it does not have any legal powers to monitor the same as individual countries in the union have individual laws and authorities that can make final decisions on the matter. A ruling by Europe highest court in May last year had stated that anyone in connections with the European Union had the right to ask Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to remove links about them whenever they feel like.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has been pushing to limit the privacy decision to a subset of domains like Google.fr and Google.de while Watchdog groups push to have the decision apply to worldwide domains including Google.com. A standoff has already ensued in Europe with many people reiterating that the right to privacy should be part of the freedom of expression.
Recent legal challenges have tried to force Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) into applying Europe’s decision on privacy, on all its global operations. One advocacy group has already sided with Google reiterating that the privacy ruling should be limited to Europe. According to the latest transparency report, Google has already taken down nearly 767,000 links roughly 40% of tabled requests.
Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales, on his part, maintains that a decision that forces Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to remove links online is flawed as it hampers people’s access to online information. Wales opposes the decision affirming that it only goes to give commercial companies the ability of becoming a judge in one the most fundamental rights of expression and privacy.
A former German federal justice minister Sabine Leutheuseer on her part maintains the right to privacy should be enforced globally.
