Google panel backs limits on ‘right to be forgotten’

Google’s decision to limit censorship under Europe’s new “right to be forgotten” requirement to its search sites based there, rather than extend it globally, has won the backing of an independent group of experts.

However, the experts called on Google to adjust some of its processes for deciding which links to strip out of its search service, for instance by giving publishers the right to appeal against having links to information suppressed. The conclusions of the group, which was convened by the search company to advise it on how to implement the right to be forgotten ruling, could signal a battle ahead with European regulators. The data protection watchdogs have called for Google to extend its suppression of links to all its global search sites, since these are also accessible from inside the EU.