Google has been ordered
to disable part of its autocomplete function in Japan after complaints
it violates privacy. According to a report by The Japan Times, the court
was acting on a petition accusing Google’s autocomplete feature of
being defamatory.
The petition was filed by a
Japanese man (name not disclosed) who alleged that some of the
autocomplete suggestions accompanying his name were not only defamatory
but also breached his privacy. The unnamed petitioner, in fact, claimed
that these defamatory search suggestions even cost him his job. The man came to this conclusion after
discovering that when people type his name into Google's search engine,
words suggesting criminal acts, which he is unfamiliar with,
automatically appear. If a computer-suggested term is selected, more
than 10,000 items defaming or disparaging him show up in a list, Tomita
said.
Google has so far not carried out the court's request - but said it was "reviewing the order". "A Japanese court issued a provisional order requesting Google to delete specific terms from autocomplete," the Google spokesperson said in a statement. "The judge did not require Google to completely suspend the autocomplete function."
Google defended the system,
arguing that as results were generated mechanically - rather than by an
individual it was not an invasion of privacy." These searches are produced by a number of factors including the popularity of search terms," the company said.
Google has been having a few
problems with these sorts of cases. Last year when a British man was
falsely accused of being a paedophile in a Google Places review the
company had to pull it. The search engine also had to give in to an
Indian law directing internet companies to block religiously offensive
information from searches.
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