Google sets up system to erase unflattering personal information from European results

SAN FRANCISCO – Google is starting to accept requests from Europeans who want to purge unflattering information that pops up about them in Web links retrieved by the world’s dominant search engine.

The demands can be submitted on a Web page that Google opened late Thursday in response to a landmark ruling issued two weeks ago by Europe’s highest court.

The decision gives Europeans the means to polish their online reputations by petitioning Google and other search engines to remove potentially damaging links to newspaper articles and other websites with embarrassing information about their past activities.

Google’s compliance thrusts the company into the prickly position of having to balance privacy concerns and “the right to be forgotten” against the principles of free expression and “the right to know.”

___

Online:

Request forms: http://bit.ly/1oAsezu