Microsoft expands Bing's Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) filtering in Europe

Microsoft today announced that they have expanded the scope of Bing’s Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) filtering in Europe. In the past, when Bing accepted an RTBF request, the URL would be delisted from all applicable European versions of Bing (such as Bing.fr, Bing.de, Bing.co.uk) for searches of the requestor’s name. From now on, in addition to the old process, Microsoft will also use location-based signals (e.g., IP addresses) to delist the relevant URL on all versions of Bing, including Bing.com, for any user accessing Bing from the European country where the request originated.

If someone in France successfully requests delisting of a URL on Bing, Bing will now delist the URL for all searches of that person’s name—regardless of what version of Bing is being used—if the search originates from a location within France.

Our decision to expand the scope of RTBF filtering reflects recent developments in the European data protection regulatory environment, and these steps are in line with the broader industry.  We believe our updated process will enhance the privacy protections requested by European regulators, balanced against the need to protect the rights of our users to free access to lawful content.

Read more about it here.