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 In the European Union, this right has become law. Mario Costeja Gonzalez, a Spanish lawyer, sold his house in an auction in 1998. The sale was advertised in a newspaper, and it mentioned that the proceeds would be used to cover Gonzalez’s unpaid taxes. However，this article could still be found with a Google search of Gonzalea’s name 16 years later. He claimed that not only was this old news no longer relevant, but the search result was also affecting his professional reputation. So, with the help of Spain’s data protection authority, Gonzalez took the case to court. In May 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that Google had to remove the link. Since then, Google has provided an online form for requests to remove links from its search results. Thousands of people have applied，though almost 60 percent of requests are rejected. 

 One website，Forget.me, helps people fill in these forms. According to the website，most requests are made to remove personal information. A person may ask that their home address or work history be kept private. Other requests, however, are to remove links to indecent photos posted by bitter ex-partners. The former requests are usually rejected, while the latter are always granted. Some of the requests fall into a gray area though，and these muddy the waters because of related issues like privacy, censorship, and the right to free speech. 

 There have been similar cases to Gonzalez’s in other parts of the world. In the Netherlands, a man demanded that Google remove a link to information about a violent crime he had committed. Google refused and the Dutch court upheld the decision，as it was information “of relevant public interest.” However, Google agreed to remove links about someone who，as a teenager, had injured a passenger while drunk driving. Another man managed to get links to an old membership list of a controversial political party removed. The man, whose name was on the list, said that he no longer held those views and that the links to the old list affected his reputation. 

 Making decisions in these cases can be tricky. Clearly, some people deserve to have their privacy protected. However, the right to be forgotten should not become a tool that individuals and companies can use to bury negative publicity. Google is aware of the complications and has set up both an advisory group and a number of public meetings to develop guidelines. The advisors include an ethics professor and the founder of Wikipedia. The issue is a global one，but in the US, the right to be forgotten goes against the country’s right to free speech. The two rights may contradict each other in some circumstances. The right to be forgotten will continue to be debated as the Internet plays an even more indispensable role in people’s lives.