It is not a secret that pre-employment screening includes the Internet search. Most recruiters are googling their applicants – it is recognized as a standard practice these days.

However, the recent ruling in favor of removing links containing people’s names at their request will surely have a bearing on what recruiters can find on the Internet. Such requests will force search engines to delete links so that the information doesn’t appear on search results.

Apparently, this ruling could detrimentally impact the screening process. The experts can’t decide whether it will cause the wrong candidates to be hired or it will be better for people’s job prospects.

Some believe that removing old links can only make screening fairer, because searches through the Internet show recruiters the data they wouldn’t normally see – this might prompt prejudiced decisions about an applicant. For instance, a spent conviction doesn’t necessarily mean that an applicant wouldn’t perform well in a role. Sometimes the information posted is fake or not proven, so removing associations between such content and an applicant must improve the selection process.

The others believe that new rules can have a positive effect, because the removal of links will only cast suspicions on an applicant. This might be much worse than the substance of whatever has been removed.

In the meantime, Google announces that the company is doing its best to comply with the requests but can’t be specific about why the information was removed – apparently, this could violate people’s privacy rights under the court decision. The suggestions were that search engines could keep a record of takedowns, but now the experts wonder whether this “resource” could eventually form part of the screening process, with the results being used against the applicants.

Thus far, Google has received over 70,000 requests from the individuals since the ruling was made. But the dilemma for the search engine is to achieve a balance between the individual’s right to be forgotten and the public’s right to know certain information. At the moment, Google is treating each request on a case-by-case basis. In order to determine what is in the public interest, the company is taking into account a number of factors: whether the information relates to a public figure, whether it comes from a reputable news source, and how recent it is. However, the judgments will anyway be difficult and debatable.