New site lists Google deletions

A website has been set up to detail which stories Google has taken down in response to requests under the “right to be forgotten” ruling.
And in a bizarre twist, searches on Google for stories which have been deleted are now being flagged up on the site, Hidden From Google.
HiddenFromGoogle.com doesn’t automatically archive each website that disappears from searches – instead, it relies on news reports about specific websites that are removed. Any person can submit a link that has been removed from Google, and the site will archive it.
On Monday, Google bemoaned they fact that it was being made to “act as judge and jury” on search results about individuals by the ruling.
Speaking to a Media Society conference in London, the company’s spokesman Peter Barron said: “It’s not a task that we ever wanted.
“Our background is that we are firmly in favour of free expression. The way that it’s worked hitherto is that an individual with a grievance would go to the publisher or to a court – we don’t think we should be judge and jury but today we face the law.”
He said that Google had received 70,000 take-down requests since the ruling in May this year, adding that the firm was now getting another 1,000 per day. He said the ruling meant “the right to privacy now trumps freedom of expression”.

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