One Court Ruling on Privacy in Europe, and 28 Regulators

The ruling on Tuesday by Europe’s highest court that Google can be forced to remove links from certain searches will be carried out by data privacy regulators at 28 different agencies across the European Union.But the court gave the agencies little guidance in applying the ruling, and they are likely to interpret it in different ways. That means people in different European countries could receive different treatment, which could lead to jurisdiction shopping.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/technology/one-court-ruling-on-privacy-in-europe-and-28-regulators.htmlAlso see:Europe’s wrong move: The job of censor is too important to leave to Google
On Tuesday, the European Court of Justice ruled that Google must respect the “right to be forgotten” and remove links to information that individuals might consider personally embarrassing. Google called the ruling, which cannot be appealed, “disappointing.” Google was being discreet. The ruling is more than disappointing; it’s dangerous.The case at issue pertained to a Spanish citizen whose home was repossessed and auctioned off by local authorities in 1998 for failure to pay social security taxes. The news of his repossession was published in a local newspaper whose archives remain online. (Unlike every other news outlet that has reported the ECJ decision, I will not name the Spaniard, because, gosh, the ubiquitous reporting on his dire straits 16 years ago really undermines his legal victory.)
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/14/europes_wrong_move_the_job_of_censor_is_too_important_to_leave_to_google/