EU Court Of Justice Says Google Not Responsible For Search Content

Google is one of the world’s leading internet-based corporations and people often mistake Google for having a significant responsibility for controlling the internet despite the fact it merely organises and searches the internet with its highly popular search engine. In the past, and still today, we have seen Google overwhelmed with DMCA take down notices for search engine results and legal cases against Google for what shows up in the auto-fill section of their search bar.

Recently a Spanish man has taken Google to court after an auction notice of his home that was repossessed appeared on Google and he claims that it infringes on his privacy and should be deleted. Yet the European Court of Justice thinks otherwise and in its ruling Niilo Jaaskinen, an advocate general of the European Court of Justice, believes that Google is not obliged to remove content produced by others.

“Search engine service providers are not responsible, on the basis of the Data Protection Drive, for personal data appearing on web pages they process”

Not only does this influence the particular case involving the Spanish man taking Google to court but it also sets a precedent for future legal cases against Google that dispute similar issues.

Image courtesy of Cédric Puisney (Flickr.com)