How to be forgotten in Google – FORTUNE

SAN FRANCISCO / BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google gave the first steps Friday to comply with a ruling of the European Union (EU) offering people the opportunity to request that sensitive data are removed from Internet searches, an opinion which pleased activists, but raised fears that can be used to hide information.

Balance between privacy and freedom of information has been a topic of great importance in Europe, whose citizens enjoy some protection laws stricter world data, especially after revelations last year about la existence of virtual programs U.S. spy.

Google, which processes more than 90% of Internet searches in Europe, announced the creation of a web form to European citizens may submit an application for removal of data (https://support.google.com/legal/contact/lr_eudpa?product=websearch).

For the procedure will require, inter alia, a copy driving license or national identity

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Google did not announce when the data of the search results will be deleted. The company has already received thousands of requests, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The announcement of the search engine world’s most popular online occurs just before a two-day meeting of heads of data protection agencies in the EU, which will begin on Tuesday, when planning to discuss the implications of the opinion delivered on the block May 13.

“It was time, since the laws protecting European data have existed since 1995. Now we have to see how it will work in practice the announced tool, “said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Justice of the EU.

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A group of senior executives from Google and outside experts advising the company in implementing new privacy

In the advisory group involved CEO, Eric Schmidt, co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales and Frank La Rue, and the Special Rapporteur of the UN to freedom of expression, said Google.

Month past el European High Court ruled in favor of the right to be forgotten online. Although also other search engines like Yahoo or Microsoft are affected by the ruling, Google has been the backbone of the opinion for its strong presence in Europe.

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