Yahoo Japan discusses policy on ‘right-to-be-forgotten’ requests

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Internet giant Yahoo Japan has announced details regarding its privacy protection guidelines and how the company decides which private information will be displayed and which will not.

In recent years, there has been an increase in requests from private citizens for search engines such as Yahoo and Google to remove information. Last year, the European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that people can ask Google to delete sensitive information from its Internet search results.

The case underlines the battle between advocates of free expression and supporters of privacy rights, who say people should have the “right to be forgotten” meaning that they should be able to remove their digital traces from the Internet.

In Japan, one man who was wrongfully arrested, said information describing him as a criminal continued to show up on Internet search engines, NHK reported.

Speaking at a news conference in Tokyo on Monday, a Yahoo Japan executive said that before deciding whether certain information will be displayed following a search using their web service, the company takes into consideration the nature of personal information regarding public officials and underage individuals, as well as the societal significance of and public interest in the particular information.

The company said that in particular, any data that falls under the category of illegal sexual photography or video, medical history, and or any data that promotes criminal or abusive activity, is top priority for the company’s privacy protection judgment.

Conversely however, criminal and arrest records will not be removed as Yahoo strongly believes that such information promotes the well being and safety of the greater good.

The company said it recognizes that such Internet search result censorship and restrictions may at times compete with the rights of free speech and public information protection laws, but that it will work diligently to maintain a stance of only providing neutral and reliable search results to its users.