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Right To Be Forgotten Google

Google's right to be forgotten ordered to be extended worldwide

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By Tony Connelly, Sports Marketing Reporter

September 21, 2015 | 2 min read

The French regulator's decision means Google will now have to adhere to a formal order in May or face possible sanctions.

French data protection regulators have rejected Google’s appeal over the extension of its right to be forgotten service to web domains worldwide which the Silicon Valley giant wanted to prevent.

The commission, known as the Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), ruled that Google must adhere to its order put forth in May stating that Google’s right to be forgotten removals be applied to “all domain names” of the search engine, including google.com.

Google appealed the initial decision directly to the French regulator in July, arguing that applying the right beyond Europe could pave the way for more authoritarian governments attempting to apply internet censorship rules beyond their borders. However the CNIL responded by saying that it wasn't seeking extraterritorial application of the law, only application of European law by companies doing business in Europe.

Following the decision to throw out the appeal a Google spokesperson said that as a matter of principle “we respectfully disagree with the idea that one national data protection authority can assert global authority to control the content that people can access around the world”.

In what is likely to be an extended legal battle, Google could face possible sanctions proceedings if it does not implement the ruling however this involves relatively small fines for Google with the upper limit being just €150,000.

The CNIL and other European regulators have argued that Google approach undermines the services effectiveness in Europe as the information can still be found by searching its non-European sites.

Right To Be Forgotten Google

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