Google ruling: ‘Right to be forgotten’ will make PR easier
Online Reputation Management could get a whole lot easier for PR and communications professionals after a landmark ruling by European Courts on Tuesday has given individuals the right to control personal data on search engines.
The European Commission is considering a formal ‘right to be forgotten’ law following the court battle which granted a complainant the right to delete some personal data from Google.
The European Court of Justice court ruled that individuals should be able to request ‘irrelevant or incorrect’ personal information to be taken down from search engines.
The case has sparked a debate on online censorship and privacy laws across mainstream and social media.
A Cision social media analysis found that the case has been a hot topic of discussion with over 2 million online mentions in less than 24-hours. Privacy campaigners have welcomed the ruling while analysts watching this space remain sceptical on the implications it could have for online behaviour.
Digital and social media director for Ketchum’s European operations and CIPR president Stephen Waddington is certain that the ruling will be challenged but remains optimistic about the impact it can have on the communications industry. ‘The ruling has the potential to make online reputation management pretty straightforward as it creates an opportunity for PR to erase negative content regarding individuals from search engines if they can prove the information based on historical circumstances are no longer relevant.’
‘The real challenge will be in how Google and other online publishers actually manage the process.’
If the law comes into effect, search engines such as Google will indeed have to take on larger roles as data controllers and gatekeepers but it will be interesting to see just how many people have deep enough pockets to challenge the search engine giants.
What do you think?
This post has generated some interesting online comments. Since the article was published, Stephen has expanded on his comments adding that he is not optimistic of the impact of the ruling in any way on the business of public relations. ‘It puts the public relations industry in conflict with society, and strikes at the heart of the principle of free speech and democracy. The European Court of Justice has applied 20th century laws to 21st century technology and networks.’ The outcome for the PR industry, he said to PRWeek: ‘could be short-term gain but long-term pain.’
Priyanka Dayal, Content Manager, Cision