Last week, Microsoft confirmed that it would soon launch a form to help process 'right to be forgotten' requests in Europe, following a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice in May.
That ruling established the right for individuals to be able to request that search engines remove certain results about them, if considered 'irrelevant' or 'outdated' in some way. Google launched a form to help users to submit these requests at the end of May, and began removing results earlier this month, but it has taken longer for Microsoft to catch up.
As Reuters reports, Microsoft's request form is now available, and requests information in four sections from those seeking to get specific search results removed. The company says that it will consider not just the details that individuals submit, but also "other sources of information... to verify or supplement the information you provide."
It adds: "This information will help us to consider the balance between your individual privacy interest and the public interest in protecting free expression and the free availability of information, consistent with European law." As with Google, Microsoft says that submitting a request does not guarantee that it will be approved.
If approved, the relevant results will be removed from Bing search engine results in Europe, but will continue to be available for those that search outside of the EU.
Source: Reuters / Bing request form
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