French Privacy Watchdog CNIL Orders Google to Expand ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ To ALL Internet Domains

UPDATE July 30

• Google rejects French request for broader ‘right to be forgotten’ rules (via The Verge)

• Direct to Full Text of Google’s Statement (via Google Europe Blog)

From the Statement:

We believe that no one country should have the authority to control what content someone in a second country can access. We also believe this order is disproportionate and unnecessary, given that the overwhelming majority of French internet users—currently around 97%—access a European version of Google’s search engine like google.fr, rather than Google.com or any other version of Google.
As a matter of principle, therefore, we respectfully disagree with the CNIL’s assertion of global authority on this issue and we have asked the CNIL to withdraw its Formal Notice.

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From The Wall St. Journal:

France’s data-protection regulator has ordered Google to expand its takedowns under Europe’s new “right to be forgotten” to encompass all of its global domains, including Google.com, escalating a fight over the divisive rule that could push the search giant back into the European court.
France’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, or CNIL, said Friday that it has ordered Google to begin applying right to be forgotten removals it has approved in Europe to “all of its domain names,” not just those that are aimed at Europe, such as google.fr. “In order to be effective, delisting must be carried out on all extensions of the search engine,” the CNIL said.
While the order isn’t a sanction, the authority can follow up with sanctions proceedings and a fine of up to €150,000 ($168,000) if Google doesn’t comply. Google could also choose to challenge the order or any resulting sanction in French court, as it has done in the past.

Read the Complete Article
See Also: Here’s the Full Text of the CNIL Statement Quoted in the Article

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