Following a recent ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Google has launched a service to allow Europeans to ask for personal data to be removed from online search results. A ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union found that certain Google users can ask search engines to remove results for queries that include their name where those results are "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant, or excessive in relation to the purposes for which they were processed."

In implementing this decision, Google says it will assess each individual request and attempt to balance the privacy rights of the individual with the public's right to know and distribute information.

When evaluating a removal request, Google will look at whether the results include outdated information about the inquirer, as well as whether there's a public interest in the information - for example, information about financial scams or professional malpractice.

Users should provide the URL for each link appearing in a Google search for their name that they request to be removed. They should also explain why the linked page is about them, and how the submitted URLs in search results are irrelevant, outdated, or otherwise inappropriate.

If you have a removal request, fill out the form found on this page.