Giant search engine Google Inc. (GOOGL) announced that it has received more than 70,000 requests, involving around 250,000 EU websites, to erase personal data links from its search engine. The requests come in the wake of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s order that such individuals have the "right to be forgotten (“RTBF”)" two months ago.
Google asserted that it is trying to conform to the European court’s controversial decision, even though it stated that the ruling was vague and unreasonable. This has prompted a debate regarding the merits of the European RTBF ruling. Google finds it illogical and one that is difficult to implement consistently.
The proponents of the RTBF ruling believe that the individuals in question should be able to request removal of their personal information, which is irrelevant and can be used to violate their privacy. However, the detractors state that such policies can prompt criminals and corrupt politicians to demand deletion of their information. Moreover, the judgment to delete information from search results would hamper freedom of expression.
As per the European court, search companies are answerable for personal information that is displayed on web pages. Therefore, the court ruled that the individuals can appeal to the search engines to take down irrelevant links related to them such as news reports, court cases and other legal pages. Moreover if the information is used to breach an individual’s right to privacy, then the company will have to comply with the ruling or be subjected to penalties.
Following the decision, Google received a large number of takedown requests in the first few days. Google started removing links at the end of June but the sheer number of applications has left the company with a huge backlog despite employing more staff. Google has had to deal with legal costs as well as unnecessary additional operational costs for hiring staff. The process is also very time-consuming as it involves reviewing each application before deletion.
Google had mistakenly deleted links involving articles in a British newspaper, The Guardian, but later reinstated them creating a controversy in Europe. Therefore, Google stressed that it is struggling to comply with the RTFB ruling and has assigned a panel of experts to help it deal with the vague and illogical standards set by the court.
Google shares currently hold a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks that are worth considering Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (RAX), Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) and Micron Technology Inc. (MU), all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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