Google to Microsoft Face User-Request Overload in Europe

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Deleting personal information online is costly and time-consuming for Web companies. Those difficulties are now set to be magnified in Europe for Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others.

The European Union’s top court yesterday ruledBloomberg Terminal citizens have a “right to be forgotten” online, meaning people may ask search-engine owners to remove personal information and request that a court or data-protection authority step in if a company doesn’t comply. The EU decision doesn’t spell out what types of information must be removed and doesn’t provide exemptions for data that are true or from a reputable source.