When Google says no

Most discussion of the Right to Be Forgotten focuses on the initial request. But the appeal route matters just as much, particularly because refusal rates are high. If Google or Bing refuses to delist, the individual can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

What the ICO actually does

The ICO’s role is not to substitute its own view for the search engine’s on every point. It is to assess whether the processing of personal data complies with data protection principles — including whether the information is inaccurate, irrelevant or out of date, and whether the public interest has been properly weighed.

The ICO has published a list of factors it considers, including whether the individual plays a role in public life, whether the data relates to a criminal offence, how serious the offence was, how long ago the conviction took place, and whether the sentence is now spent. A well-prepared complaint engages with these factors directly.

The limits of the route

The ICO’s resources are finite, and not every complaint results in intervention. But the route is real, and it has produced results. In one reported case, the ICO overruled Google’s refusal to delist articles about a manager who had been made a scapegoat for her employer’s practices — a decision that turned on a closer reading of the facts than Google had applied.

The lesson is not that appeals always succeed. It is that a refusal should be read carefully, and that the appeal route should be considered as part of the strategy from the outset — not as an afterthought.

Reading a refusal properly

Refusal letters are often short. They may cite public interest without explaining it, or decline to engage with evidence you provided. That is precisely what a complaint can address: not “I disagree”, but “the balancing exercise was not properly conducted, and here is why”.