Google may indicate when results have been 'forgotten' under EU ruling

Google may indicate when results have been 'forgotten' under EU ruling
Google has been inundated with requests over right to be forgotten law

Google is considering whether to inform users when their search results have been censored due to 'right to be forgotten' requests.

As of last Monday, the web giant had received over 41,000 requests from citizens seeking the removal of outdated, irrelevant or no longer relevant information from queries, following a European Court ruling.

Now, the Guardian reports, Google may place an indicator at the bottom of a search page, when their results have tampered with.

The firm already places such a notification at the bottom of pages when results providing links to illegal downloads have been removed due to requests from content owners and lawmakers.

Sketchy

The requests have mostly come from those looking to scrub their sketchy pasts from the search results.

Google said a third of requests so far have been related to fraud and scams, a fifth were related to serious crimes, while 12 per cent were attributable to child pornography offences.

Despite the removal from search pages, all content will remain in place at the source but will not be available via Google.

Chris Smith

A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.