Google autocomplete feature in court case

A court in Japan has sided with a Japanese man who wants Google's "autocomplete" search feature suspended because it wrongly links him with criminal activity. The unidentified man decided to seek legal action against the U.S. search engine when he discovered that when he started to type his name as a Google search term, the autocomplete function produced results of criminal acts in association with his name. He has no knowledge of any such crimes, his lawyer said. The lawyer, Hiroyuki Tomita, says his client believes the defamatory search "suggestions" Google calls up as it automatically completes his name cost him his job, ZDNet.com reported Monday. The man said he wrote to Google requesting it delete certain words He said Google rejected his request on the grounds that the autocomplete function produced the suggested words mechanically and could therefore not be considered invasion of privacy. "Predicted queries are algorithmically determined based on a number of purely algorithmic factors ... without human intervention," Google's help site says. Tokyo's District Court has approved the man's petition, but Google is refusing to suspend the autocomplete function. Tomita said he's been told by Google it will not be regulated by Japanese law and the case does not warrant deleting autocomplete suggestions. His client will be taking further legal action if Google continues to refuse to comply with the court order, Tomia said.