Google ‘obstructs right to be forgotten’

 Google is rendering spent convictions meaningless, the High Court has heard, as two landmark cases attempt to strengthen the right to be forgotten.

Mr Justice Nicklin said the internet “provides a challenge to the ‘right to be forgotten’.”

“There is the very real prospect that an individual may end up with a permanent blot on their record if information about them from many years ago is returned as a result of the use of search engines,” he said.

He made the comments as he implemented an order preventing the identification of two claimants who are trying to force Google to remove reference to offences they committed more than a decade ago.

Following a European Court of Justice ruling in 2014, people can request that certain links are removed from search results if they are outdated or irrelevant.

The two cases against the search engine are thought to be the first to be heard in England.