Google removes first search results after EU privacy ruling

Google has begun removing some search results to comply with a European Union ruling upholding citizens' right to have objectionable personal information about them hidden from search engines.

Several weeks after the May ruling by the European Court of Justice on the so-called "right to be forgotten," the company set up an online interface for users to register their complaints.

Google had said it was disappointed with the EU ruling, and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said the balance the court struck between privacy and "the right to know" was wrong.

The company said Thursday it has begun taking down results this week. But Google's European spokesman Al Verney said there is a significant backlog to work through. At last report, more than 50,000 people from multiple nationalities had filed requests to have information removed.

Critics of the ruling say removing result links is censorship and will lead to politicians and criminals requesting elimination of information. But supporters noted that the court specified Google should not remove links to information when the public's right to know about it outweighs an individual's right to privacy.

Internet privacy concerns shot up in the public agenda last year when former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of mass U.S. surveillance programs involving European citizens and some heads of state.

The EU has been critical of several major U.S. web companies, such as Facebook and Google, over their handling of personal data. National governments recently moved toward extending Europe's strict data protection rules to all companies, not just European ones.

Al Jazeera and wire services