The Independent/Andrew Griffn: Google loses 'right to be forgotten' fight against businessman and must delete information about him

The Independent
 
    INDYTech

Google loses 'right to be forgotten' fight against businessman and must delete information about him
The tech giant must now remove all references to the man’s past crimes / Alamy

The ruling could have huge implications for the future of information on the internet

    Andrew Griffin
    @_andrew_griffin
    Friday 13 April 2018 14:30 BST

Click to follow
The Independent Tech

Google has lost a landmark “right to be forgotten” ruling and must delete information about a businessman.

The site must now remove historical articles about the man having committed crimes in his past. He claimed that the information was no longer relevant and that it should be deleted.

In a major blow to Google, which fought the case, a High Court judge agreed.
Gadgets and tech news in pictures

    + show all

But it did win against another businessman who was fighting against Google at the same time and had committed a more serious offence.

The right to be forgotten, or right to erasure, is a major concept in European law that allows people to request information about themselves to be removed from the internet when it is no longer relevant. The two businessmen claimed that it should apply to reports about their crimes, since their punishments had been served and they claimed they had now been rehabilitated.

Judges ruled that neither of the men should be identified as part of the case.