Google Right To Be Forgotten Takedown Notices Missing Details

Google has updated its right to be forgotten EU takedown notices and details to not show the specific URLs and to stop notifying publishers of these requests. This is a big change from how these initially worked back in 2014.

Initially, when there was an EU takedown request, Google would share the specifics so the publisher could act on it. Now, Google does not, it just tells the publisher there was a takedown request but does not give any detail.

Rob P. shared these details with me on X earlier this week saying you “no longer see URLs in EU takedown notices from Google.” And he was dead on, he shared this screenshot showing how the notify button was removed and the specific affected URLs section was removed from the bottom of the notice:

Then yesterday, The Guardian reported that “Google has quietly stopped telling publishers when it has removed websites from its search results under European “right to be forgotten” rules after a ruling in a Swedish court which the search engine is applying globally.”

Google told the Guardian:

We rolled out our new approach to notifications following a decision by Sweden’s data protection authority, which entered into force in December 2023 after the Swedish administrative supreme court refused us leave to appeal.

We disagreed with the decision at the time – but it’s binding and confirms pan-EU regulatory guidance. We have therefore undertaken a strong effort to comply with it.

So I guess this change happened a few months ago but I never noticed it and figured I’d let you all know.

Forum discussion at X.