Google ruling puts privacy over free information

People should have some say over the results that pop up when they conduct a vanity search online.

That is the thrust of a landmark European court ruling saying Google must listen and sometimes comply when individuals ask the internet search giant to remove links to newspaper articles or websites containing personal information.

Campaigners in Europe have said the ruling from Europe’s highest court, stemming from a Spanish case, effectively backs individual privacy rights over the freedom of information.