Google ordered by Japanese court to remove search results

Google has been hit by another privacy setback. A Japanese court has ordered the company to delete some search results related to a man that are considered to be infringing his privacy rights. Back in June, the man requested an injunction from the court, arguing that the search results lead to articles suggesting he was involved in a past crime, something he says not only compromises his privacy, but also threatens his life.

Google Inc. has suffered another setback on privacy issues, this time in Japan, following a European court ruling that gave Internet users the right to ask the company to remove information about them from search results. The Tokyo District Court on Thursday issued an injunction, ordering Google to remove some Internet search results about a Japanese man that are considered to be violating his privacy, representatives from both sides said. Though the Tokyo court order has far less sweeping implications than the precedent-setting ruling by the European Court of Justice, it touches on similar issues.