Extend Internet privacy rights beyond Europe, EU says

BRUSSELS, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A European Union guideline Wednesday called on Google to remove Internet links at the request of individuals globally, instead of merely in Europe.

A current ruling requires the company to respect a "right to be forgotten" policy established in the EU's highest court, but the ruling applies only to European search domains such as Google.de in Germany or Google.fr in France. The EU privacy panel, composed of representatives from all 28 member nations, reasoned online information could still be found at non-European domains such as Google.com. "Under E.U. law, everyone has a right to data protection. Decisions must be implemented in such a way that they guarantee the effective and complete protection of data subjects' rights and that E.U. law cannot be circumvented," a statement issued Wednesday said.

The guidelines are not compulsory and are subject to interpretation by each member nation. The meetings of the watchdog group, known as the Article 29 Working Party, are ongoing and modifications to the guidelines are expected.

The decision would affect Google links outside the EU which are still available within the EU. Regulators have noted any information taken down from an EU domain is still visible, and easily available, elsewhere on the Internet.

Google offered no immediate comment.