Microsoft's Bing follows in Google's footsteps and starts removing links under the 'right to be forgotten' ruling
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European web users can now ask search engine Bing to remove links they don't like.
The move comes after a court ruling in May gave people in the EU the 'right to be forgotten' on the internet.
The Microsoft-owned search giant has created an online request form that lets people identify specific web pages they want omitted.
European web users can now ask search engine Bing (pictured) to remove links they don't like, following the 'right to be forgotten' court ruling in Luxembourg in May. This ruling requires search engines to remove information deemed 'inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant' - or face penalties
THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN
Under the European Data Protection Regulation, Article 17 includes the 'right to be forgotten and to erasure'.
Under Article 17, people who are mentioned in the data have the right to 'obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data relating to them and the abstention from further dissemination of such data.'
This particularly relates to data about the person when they were a child, when the data is no longer relevant or necessary for the purpose it was collected, the person who owns the content withdraws their consent, the storage period has expired, or if it was gathered illegally.
The EU defines 'data controllers' as 'people or bodies that collect and manage personal data.'
The EU General Data Protection Regulation means any data controller who has been asked to remove data must 'take all reasonable steps, including technical measures' to remove it.
If a data controller does not take these steps they can be heavily fined.
'We will use the information that you provide to evaluate your request,' said the Bing request form.
'This information will help us to consider the balance between your individual privacy interest and the public interest in protecting free expression and the free availability of information, consistent with European law.
'As a result, making a request does not guarantee that a particular search result will be blocked.'
The site added it will also consider other sources of information beyond the form to verify or supplement the information, and create a case for removal.
It also said submissions may be re-evaluated over time, and this could lead to previously deleted results reappearing.
People submitting requests are required to prove who they are, and whether they are a public figure such as a politician or celebrity.
They are also asked to explain why they feel the data should be removed.
Examples given include if the information is 'out-of-date, false, incomplete or inappropriate'.
The Microsoft-owned search giant has created an online request form (pictured) and said not all requests will be removed, and submissions will be re-evaluated over time. People submitting requests are required to prove who they are, and whether they are a public figure such as a politician or celebrity
The court ruled that individuals have the right to have links to information about them deleted from searches in certain circumstances, but only if they meet specific criteria.
If search services don't comply, they face heavy fines.
Google began removing search results last month and said it has received more than 70,000 requests since it put a form online on May 30.
When searches are made on Google, a warning message now appears at the bottom of the page that tells users results 'may have been removed.'
This warning appears on all results regardless of the name searched.
The decision affects 500 million citizens and states that if search services don't comply, they face heavy fines. Google (pictured) began removing search results last month and said it has received more than 70,000 requests since it put a form online on May 30
MICROSOFT CUTS 18,000 JOBS
Earlier today, Microsoft announced plans to cut up to 18,000 jobs this year as the company to reposition itself for the future.
Following the Nokia acquisition, completed in April, Microsoft had roughly 127,104 employees.
This means meaning the cuts could reduce nearly 15 per cent of its workforce.
Microsoft said the vast majority of the cuts will come in the next six months, and will fully implemented over the next year.
'There's many open questions,' Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said at the company's annual shareholder meeting in response to a question about the ruling and its implications on Google's operations.
'A simple way of understanding what happened here is that you have a collision between a right to be forgotten and a right to know.
'From Google's perspective that's a balance,' Schmidt added.
'Google believes having looked at the decision, which is binding, that the balance that was struck was wrong.'
European citizens can submit take-down requests directly to Internet companies rather than to local authorities or publishers under the ruling.
If a search engine elects not to remove the link, a person can seek redress from the courts.
The ruling seems to give search engines more leeway to dismiss take-down requests for links to webpages about public figures, in which the information is deemed to be of public interest.
The ruling was made by the European Union Court of Justice (pictured). It comes after a Spanish man complained an online auction note about his repossessed home infringed his privacy. Google told MailOnline it is 'disappointed' by the ruling and argued it should not be a censor for data held on websites in its index
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