Google sued by Canada’s privacy watchdog over ‘right to be forgotten’

OTTAWA — Canada’s privacy commissioner is asking the Federal Court to order Google to de-list specific search results, after Google refused to comply with the watchdog’s recommendations.

Privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne’s office said a year ago that Google wouldn’t implement its recommendation to de-list specific articles in the search results for an individual’s name.

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The case, which has been ongoing since 2017, involves articles about a criminal charge that was dropped, which the individual said caused direct harm, including social stigma, lost job opportunities and physical assault.

The watchdog recommended Google de-list the articles for searches of that individual’s name, though they would continue to be available online and appear in results for other search terms.

The commissioner has now filed an application with the Federal Court, asking the court to enforce its recommendations.

The privacy watchdog is asking the court to require Google to de-list the search results that are displayed through both Google’s search engine and “it remove, if necessary, all related Google Artificial Intelligence Mode text containing the Impugned Search Results.”

In a press release Friday, the office of the privacy commissioner said its investigation found Google had violated the federal private-sector privacy law by continuing to display the search results.

“The investigation concluded that Canadians have a right to have certain information about them de-listed in limited circumstances so that it does not appear in online search results for their name,” the release said.

It noted that the privacy commissioner doesn’t have the power to make binding orders to force Google to comply and must apply to the court to do so.

Google has maintained the case raises issues around freedom of expression that were not addressed by the courts.

“We are strongly of the view that consideration of a so-called ‘right to be forgotten’ must be appropriately balanced with the freedom of expression and access to information rights of Canadians, the news media and other publishers, and therefore should be determined and defined by the courts,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“We welcome the opportunity to finally address these important questions before the court.”

The case has been central to establishing the application of a “right to be forgotten” in Canada.

The court filing said that in the European Union, where privacy law includes the right to erasure, Google has de-listed more than three million web pages since 2014.

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