Google’s EU Privacy Removal Tool: Why not for the rest of the world?

Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash

Recently, while going through the Tactical Tech’s Data Detox Kit, I was suggested to search my name on search engines. Although I did this activity many times in the past, I searched for my name on Google search.

The kit presents us the ways we could omit those old, scary photos of ours from the search results. And the last available option was — you can ask Google to omit it from search results through a “right to be forgotten” request. This can be done through Google’s “EU Privacy Removal” web form. I opened up the form but found there was something that tempted me. Only the citizens of EU could request for the removal of the content. It included the list of 39 countries in it.

Here’s what Google has to say:

In May 2014, a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (C-131/12, 13 May 2014) found that certain people can ask search engines to remove specific results for queries that include their name, where the interests in those results appearing are outweighed by the person’s privacy rights.

It was possible for EU citizens because Europe has enforced the data protection law. But, the question is why not for the rest of the world?? It’s just that we are not demanding for what’s already ours.

P.S. Google is not the lone sinner.

The unaware 15 year me, who didn’t cared about the privacy of his online presence — looks like his 20 year counterpart doesn’t care either.

Pratik Gadhiya is a CS undergrad and design enthusiast with a love for competitive programming and algorithms. I love passing on my knowledge and getting my colleagues and friends on internet excited about programming and technology. Connect with me on LinkedIn or say hi on Twitter.

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