About 44 percent of “right to be forgotten” (RTBF) search de-listing requests are granted by Google. Even then, there is a person in the UK whose request was among the the other 56 percent who wasn’t granted who challenged Google’s decision and won in the UK High Court.
The search result in question was about a decade-old criminal conviction, which was reportedly for “conspiracy to intercept communications.” Similarly, there was a case that was decided the other way by the court. In the two cases, the judge distinguished the facts between the two, as well as the two attitudes of those making the requests.
The following chart shows that Google denies more than half of de-listing requests under RTBF
If this ruling means anything, it means that, more than likely, others will be emboldened to seek redress from Google in the courts.
The RTBF decision making process is a balancing act, as it has to weight the content behind the removal request, versus the public interest or the public’s right to know. When it comes to making the final decisions, there is some subjectivity and discretion involved, and is ultimately up to the court.
It was back in 2014 when the European Court of Justice first established RTBF, and the implementation of the ruling by Google has gone fairly smoothly. But as to be expected, there’s an ongoing controversy over the scope of removals. The controversy in question involves whether Google should be removing content found only in the EU, or globally.