Google received 2.4mn "Right to be Forgotten" requests since 2014
According to Google's latest transparency report, the tech giant has received 2.4 million "Right to be Forgotten" requests since 2014, when the law regarding the same was first passed. In May 2014, the European Court of Justice had provided its citizens with the "Right to delist," under which tech titans were obligated to remove personal information from their search engines upon request.
What was requested to be removed
Out of the total requests, 19.1% were directory URLs, 17.6% were news websites, and 11.6% were social networks. The rest of the URLs did not fall under any of these categories and were random online destinations. Next, 18.1% people wanted their professional information removed, 7.7% wanted content they themselves posted online to be removed, and 6.1% wanted their crimes to be removed.
Who requested to remove it
The report stated that 51% of all the URL delisting appeals came from France, Germany, and the UK. Further, 89% of the takedown pleas were made by private individuals, which constituted of non-government figures (like celebrities) submitting 41,213 requests and politicians and government officials submitting 33,937 requests. Notably, Google has so far complied with 43.3% of all the requests.
How does Google decide which requests to comply with
The company said, "A few common material factors involved in decisions not to delist pages include the existence of alternative solutions, technical reasons, or duplicate URLs. We may also determine that the page contains information which is strongly in the public interest."
