Google has come out fighting against the “right to be forgotten” proposal in the new EU data laws, claiming search engines should not be responsible for deleting personal data from the Internet – that should be up to the individual.
The measure, which has already been branded “unenforceable” by many, including UK Government minister Ed Vaizey, is one of the most contentious in the proposals, unveiled by EU justice minister Vivian Reding last month.
In a blog post, Google privacy lawyer Peter Fleischer said that the company was “supportive of the principles behind the right to be forgotten” but believes search engines should only have to update search rankings rather than delete the material themselves.
“Search engines serve an important function online, and the right to be forgotten should not interfere with their ability to point consumers to information published elsewhere,” he said.
Under the proposed new laws individuals will be given a qualified ‘right to be forgotten’ that will generally enable them to force organisations to delete personal data stored about them “without delay”.
Organisations that have made the data public will be liable for the data published by third parties and will be required to “take all reasonable steps, including technical measures” to inform them to delete the information.
Fleischer stressed that while those companies and other web hosts should respond to user requests to delete content, there were legitimate reasons why that deletion should not always be “instantaneous”.
“There are practical reasons why some delay should be permitted, for example to prevent the abusive deletion of content when an account has been compromised. Other limits, including legal or contractual obligations, may also legitimately delay deletion in certain circumstances,” he said.
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