Google Gets Belgian Privacy Fine Over Right to Be Forgotten (1)

Google was fined a record 600,000 euros ($681,400) by Belgium’s data protection authority for failing to delete links regulators deemed harmful to a person’s reputation under the European Union’s right to be forgotten.

Google was “grossly negligent” by refusing to remove the links to news articles that the authority said involved unproven harassment incidents more than 10 years ago, according to an emailed statement on Tuesday.

The Belgian authority said the fine was the highest it has ever imposed. It backed a complaint by an unidentified person who “plays a role in Belgian public life” and sought to remove ...