Google has been fined a record EUR 600,000 in Belgium for failure to implement the 'right to be forgotten'. Belgium's privacy regulator said the company failed to handle sufficiently a request from a public figure in Belgium to have search results removed from Google's site.
The public figure had asked Google to remove search results linked to his name which related to a political party affiliation that he refuted and harassment allegations that were not proven. Google did not remove the items, and the person filed a complaint with the Data Protection Authority.
The regulator sided with Google over the political affiliation, ruling it was in the public interest for these links to remain available on the search engine. The complaint was upheld over the harassment case, and the regulator ruled Google should remove the links.
Given that the harassment claim was not proven, occurred ten years earlier and was likely to have considerable consequences for the person involved, the person's privacy should prevail in this case, the regulator said. Google was negligent in not removing the search results, especially as it had evidence that the case was no longer relevant or recent.
The fine also takes into account that Google failed to inform adequately the complainant or justify its decision, the regulator said. It ordered Google to remove the search results throughout its sites in the EU and also improve its information provided to people requesting removals under the 'right to be forgotten'.
This is the highest fine ever issued by the Belgian privacy regulator; the previous record was EUR 50,000. It also sets a precedent for liability, as the Belgian authority rejected Google's claim that its Belgian subsidiary was not responsible for such cases, only its US parent. The regulator said the two companies could not be considered separate, nor could a European authority be expected to exercise oversight or pursue sanctions against a company based in the US.
