Google told to halt auto-complete

A couple of points based on reading Japanese news reports: The reports are vague (at least to me) as to whether the injunction covers autocomplete itself or just the particular result. They say Google was ordered to stop the 表示 (hyouji, lit. 'display'), which I think could mean either, but seems more likely to mean the particular result (otherwise I suspect they would have said 'function'). In any case, it should be noted that all the reports seem to be based on a press conference by the plaintiff's lawyer, not on any court documents. Also, the English reports are reporting it as an injunction, but the Japanese sources have 仮処分 (kari-shobun, an interlocutory injunction), i.e. this is a temporary order and the case itself is probably still ongoing.

(I am not a native Japanese speaker, but professional J>E translator with legal translation experience)

"Google has responded to the man's complaints by saying that since the results are compiled automatically there is no intrusion of privacy"

It's hard to see how this case is about privacy - it seems like it's really about defamation, however the real details aren't disclosed.

That said, the argument that because something is done by a machine the operators are not responsible for the consequences needs to be debunked once and for all.

Auto-complete is just a subset of search. Why is it more offensive to type "john smith" and get the suggestion "serial killer" than search "john smith" and have the first three results being about John Smith, the serial killer, and only getting to John Smith, the mountaineer and cat lover, in position four?

I'll go against the popular consensus and argue that Google needs to turn this feature OFF by default. When ON, it's far too easy to assume the auto-complete represents the "right" search terms. IMO, it should be clearer that what it actually represents is similar searches other people have performed.

Did Google even defend against this in the Japanese court? I don't understand how this could get by if they did.

The fact is that names are not unique. Would he be complaining if his namesake was a renowned scientist / businessman / whatever?

Just because someone with his name is linked to crime does not mean that he is. It simply means that someone with a similar or same name is known for their criminality. I don't have what I would term as a popular name but hundreds of people share it. I would imagine in countries with far denser populations that meeting someone with the same name would be fairly common.

I would also like to see an employer who received a CV. Went to Google and typed in half a name and without even searching discarded the CV because auto-complete had shown the name along with a buzz word like crime.

Those auto-completes can be gamed, as most of them are just searches most people have done. What you do is get a large group of people to search for <NAME> + something else.

Of course you need to be creative, so rather than tell your friends, make it a contest or something. Or in your Linked In profile and email signature, put something like "If you want to see my latest resume, just google "<NAME> resume".

The funny thing is that if these new stories included the man's name, it would naturally probably bump the old ones off.

I have found one thing disturbing about autocomplete: Suppose I find a new "association" between 2 ideas, one of which is rare. I intend to follow the relationship up as a researcher or a programmer. Because of the rarity of the first topic, it is suggested to anyone who types in the first keyword - (s)he discovers the association for free, courtesy of my flash of inspiration and my carelessness to search it on google.

It is surprising in the history of mathematics how often the same results are proven simultaneously in several places - see for example, the HOMFLY polynomial. It is as though the "result was in the air". Now this is a concrete way of leaking such information so that if any one makes a connection, it "leaks" to others.

Dear sir, I would like to apply for the position of squirrel hairdresser. Please note, I am not the Bill Godfrey recently convicted of lightbulb smuggling. That's someone else with the same name.

There is no good that can come of government regulation of search engines, regardless of which nation's government we're speaking.

Google have the ability to do this, since they don't include any sexual terms in the auto-complete.

Do you know what kind of auto-completing Google should really halt? Spoilers. Do not type Game of Thrones character names on Google.

EDIT. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't mean to spoil by implying that there are spoilers. I removed the character name.

I am starting to regret that I gave my child only two first names. What would be a reasonable number for the future? Maybe 10, or even 100?

The idea being that you can switch your "official" name easily...

Why turn it off instead of tweaking it?

When I look at "Wanted" posters, some of those guys have the same first name as me. Can I sue?

You can find a scum lawyer anywhere in the world, can't you? I assume he has proof all his charges are true.