Social Media and the internet in general, have revolutionized the sharing of information. With just a few clicks, you can now dig into someone’s life and get to know stuff that many would wish to keep private.
Google is the chief source for information on the web. A simple Google search of your name is enough for someone to get bits about your life. It’s cool if you are a celebrity, but a huge annoyance for folks who wish to keep the details of their past and present life private.
This is exactly what happened to a certain Spanish citizen. A casual Google search of his name popped up an article detailing how authorities auctioned his house due to some tax arrears he owed the state. That was a while back, but Google still showed the outdated article in its search results.
This is a huge pain, and it could lead to frustrations in terms of seeking funds from finance institutions. Google had initially declined to the man’s request to pull down the article, and this led to the man seeking redress from the European Court of Justice.
Fortunately, the court ruled in favor of the man and ordered Google to remove the article from its cache. The court also detailed a range of reasons that qualify for harmful data about them removed from search results.
The landmark ruling was a major boost to online privacy, but could lead to loads of work to the Search Engine Giant owing to the fact that slander is quite common on the web.
Unfortunately, the law only applies in the EU.
Keep safe, recheck your privacy settings.
Kevin is a tech enthusiast and the lead writer at MobiTrends.co.ke. He has been writing about smartphones and tech related topics since October 2012. About Us | Contact Us
