“Hidden From Google” Service Launched
Hidden From Google is the service invented by a web programmer from New Jersey. It archives all websites that Google is required to take down from search results in Europe due to the latest court ruling that allows people to demand that certain pages be removed from Google’s search listings.
While many welcomed this court ruling, there are people who are concerned that the individuals who are making the takedown requests are either convicted sex offenders or huge banking companies abusing the system to conceal their crimes. Actually, the service named Hidden From Google does not automatically archive all websites that are removed from the searches – instead, the service relies on news reports about specific websites that disappear.
The creator of the service explains that the idea is that an individual is able to submit a link which has been removed from Google, and the website will archive it. In other words, the website is far from comprehensive – thus far, it only has a couple dozen stories listed, while it is known that Google is wrestling with a backlog of some 50,000 requests.
Afaq Tariq, a programmer behind the website, explained that Hidden From Google seemed to be something that the Internet needs. It is referred to as a perfectly legal way to archive the actions of the societal decision and allow open discussion on its impact. In other words, the service was created with the notion of it empowering a fairly equipped debate.
The website creator has not yet decided for himself whether the right to be forgotten should exist or not, but argues that determining whether or not the results should be shown is a decision for the Internet as a whole to take, not for just one person.
There are similar services like Chilling Effects, which catalogue copyright takedown requests from the DMCA, but they don’t list websites removed from searches due to “right to be forgotten” requests. Chilling Effects admitted that provided the inherent subjectivity of the content, right to be forgotten requests can be even more ambiguous than copyright claims. The website also confirms that formulaic notice services are even more likely to upset the balance between privacy and freedom of expression, because fraudulent requests will be easier to send and harder to detect now. Chilling Effects wonders if it is possible to catalogue all websites taken down from Google search results as a result of the law.
