Web posting that was removed by individual retained by Internet search engine
Early resolved case summary #5
Lessons Learned
- Individuals may approach organizations directly to withdraw their consent for the use or disclosure of their personal information at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice.
- If an individual is unsatisfied with a response from an organization, they may submit a complaint to our Office, or the appropriate provincial office, as appropriate.
Complaint summary
An individual posted her résumé on a job website. She later had the website remove the information. However, the individual was very surprised when she realized that, even though it was no longer on the job website, her résumé was still searchable via an Internet search engine, which included her address in the online description.
The individual contacted the search engine’s Web administrator several times and asked that it delete all her personal information associated with her résumé posting. The search engine did not comply. She then filed a complaint with our Office.
Outcome
Our Office dealt directly with the search engine, who then removed the cached copy of the individual’s information from its search results, using its URL removal tool, which is available for use by members of the public.
The complainant was satisfied that the information had been completely removed and we closed her complaint.
January 2014
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