Hong Kong to lobby Google over the 'right to be forgotten'
Watchdog seeks backing of region in bid to extend privacy net to Asia
With Google bowing to a "right to be forgotten" ruling in Europe, Hong Kong's privacy chief will ask his regional counterparts to join him in pressing the internet search giant to extend the same safeguards to the region.
Privacy Commissioner Allan Chiang Yam-wang revealed his plan ahead of the 41st Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities forum, which opens in Seoul tomorrow.
Privacy authorities from 15 jurisdictions including the US, Canada, Macau, Australia, and New Zealand will discuss privacy issues, including last month's European Court of Justice decision.
The court determined that people have the right to ask search companies to remove links to information about them that is "inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant or excessive".
The decision - which ruled search engines are covered by the EU's data protection laws - has left search companies in a bind as it provided little guidance on how to comply. It has also stirred fears of internet censorship, suppression of knowledge and the whitewashing of history.
Google has set up a web form to take requests in Europe. It said it would weigh each request with the public's right to know before making a decision.