14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is still working on an option that would allow Europeans to use the “Right to Be Forgotten” for its Bing search engine and get their information removed from search result pages.
A company spokesperson told TechCrunch in a short statement that Microsoft is currently working on the details of this new option, and although he didn't provide a release date, he said this could happen soon.
“We’re continuing to work out the details on how we plan to implement the recent ruling by the European Court of Justice and expect to launch a form soon for EU residents to submit requests,” the spokesperson said.
Under the new court ruling, consumers living in Europe have the right to ask companies offering online services such as search engines to remove their personal information from the result pages.
Google has already introduced such an option and said that thousands of requests were received soon after the debut of the feature, but Microsoft appears to be needing more time to introduce a dedicated feature in this regard.
According to the court ruling, “individuals have the right - under certain conditions - to ask search engines to remove links with personal information about them. This applies where the information is inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive for the purposes of the data processing.”
What's very interesting is that in May, the European Commission clearly specified that it wants search engine operators to introduce such an option very fast in order to provide users with an easy way to remove information from their pages.
Microsoft obviously needs more time to do that, but the EU promises to work closer with companies in order to make sure that the right to be forgotten is not ignored.
“The Commission will continue pushing for a speedy adoption of the data protection reform, including the reinforced and modernised Right to be Forgotten,” the EU said in May.
“The Commission expects search engine operators to further develop well-functioning tools and procedures, which ensure that individuals can request the deletion of their personal data when they are inaccurate, in- adequate, or irrelevant or no longer relevant – under the control of competent authorities in particular data protection authorities.”
Ask.com is also working on a similar feature for Europeans, but a company spokeswoman said that requests to remove personal data had already been received, so staff is working to address them on a case by case basis.