‘A painful defeat for Google’

Published on 15 May 2013 at 11:30

In a verdict announced on May 13, the federal court in Germany ruled that Google's auto-complete system, which automatically generates search suggestions, infringes the rights of individuals and companies.
To illustrate the issue, the compact edition of Die Welt publishes the suggestions prompted by a search on Angela Merkel —

Angela Merkel / Angela Merkel naturism / Angela Merkel twitter / Angela Merkel CV / Angela Merkel swimsuit / Angela Merkel Joachim Sauer [Angela Merkel’s husband] / Angela Merkel thesis / Angela Merkel private / Angela Merkel contact / Angela Merkel holidays

“In this case, the search terms added by Google are moderate and amusing,” notes the daily. But from now on Google will be obliged to remove them if someone believes his or her rights are being infringed.

The court ruled in favour of a businessman who sued Google for automatically associating “scientology” and “fraud” with his name.

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