A German federal court has ordered Google to remove auto-complete entries from the search engine after receiving complaints.
The case centred on a complaint filed by an unnamed food supplements firm and its CEO identified only as R.S.
The person found that when they typed their name into the search box of the site www.google.de, the auto-complete function suggested results with the added words ‘Scientology’ and ‘fraud’.
The court said that since April 2009, the defendant has had an auto complete feature integrated into its search engine, with the help of the Internet users. While entering their search terms in a window, various search suggestions are displayed in the form of word combinations.
Speaking to Bloomberg, a Google spokesman said he was disappointed and surprised by the court’s decision.
He said it was incomprehensible that Google was going to be held liable for the searches carried out by users.
The company integrated the auto-complete function into its search engine in 2009.
Last month, German data regulators fined Google €145,000 for illegally collecting personal data through unsecured Wi-fi networks, during its development of Street View service.
