Larry Page: 'right to be forgotten' ruling could aid repressive regimes

“We’re a big company and we can respond to these kind of concerns and spend money on them and deal with them, it’s not a problem for us,” he said. “But as a whole, as we regulate the internet, I think we’re not going to see the kind of innovation we’ve seen.”

Google is able to reject a removal application on the basis of the information being considered in the public interest to know - including details about private individuals others have a "valid interest in knowing".

To date 40 per cent of the applications received have been from Germany, with 14 per cent from Spain, 13 per cent from the UK, and 3 and 2 per cent from Italy and France respectively.

Links to articles regarding fraud/scam have received the most requests, totalling 31 per cent. This was followed closely be 'other', (30 per cent), and arrests/convictions for violent/serious crimes accounted for 20 per cent. Around 12 per cent of requests have regarded child pornography arrests.

An ex-politician seeking re-election, a paedophile and a GP were among the British applicants .

Google has now made the form detailing how to request the removal of links live online, which requires applicants to submit a valid form of photo ID, examples of the links to be taken down and the reasons behind why the links should be deleted.

The company explains: "When evaluating your request, we will look at whether the results include outdated information about you, as well as whether there's a public interest in the information - for example, information about financial scams, professional malpractice, criminal convictions, or public conduct of government officials."

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