May 30, 2014 -- Updated 1450 GMT (2250 HKT)
Google in Europe allows people to request links about them be removed
from search results if the content is outdated, inappropriate or
irrelevant. FULL STORY
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Google spells out how to be 'forgotten' in search
May 30, 2014: 11:05 AM ETGoogle is legally required to delete search results in Europe that are deemed inappropriate or irrelevant.
LONDON (CNNMoney)Google has launched a new online form that allows people in Europe to request that links about them be removed from search results if the content is outdated, inappropriate or irrelevant.
The new form has been made available to people in 28 European Union countries and four neighboring nations after the European Union's top court ruled that people have the "right to be forgotten."
The ruling means that search engines like Google (GOOGL) must remove certain unwanted links from search results if requested.
"We will assess each individual request and attempt to balance the privacy rights of the individual with the public's right to know and distribute information," Google says on the form.
A Google spokesperson said the form could be used by Europeans, expats living in Europe and people living abroad who have strong ties to the continent, such as family and business connections. People in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland can also apply, even though they're not technically part of the European Union.
Those living outside Europe can make requests using a different form, but Google is not legally obligated to take action or make changes.
In deciding whether content would be removed from its search results, Google said it would consider "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."
At the same time, Google said it would continue refining the online request form.
The company is also creating an advisory committee to review difficult requests and ethical issues. The committee will be headed by Google's chairman, Eric Schmidt, and the company's chief legal officer, David Drummond. Members will reportedly include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Related: Google fielding 'take-down requests' after privacy ruling
In mid-May, the European Court of Justice ruled that search engines were responsible for removing certain unwanted links if requested. The decision came as a surprise to the industry and legal experts.
Google is used to handling take-down requests. It has received more than 25 million requests from companies claiming Google results linked to material that infringes on copyrights. Google also receives thousands of requests from governments to take down links. Google complies with fewer than half of the government take-down requests but does not specify its compliance rate for copyright-related requests.
But copyright and many other laws are considerably clearer cut that the test of "relevance to public interest" that Google must now abide by in Europe.
THE PSYCHOPATHIC EDGEAuthor Andy McNab says psychopathic traits -- including a lack of empathy -- can help you get ahead in business.Are you a psychopath? Take the test Lack of empathy a bonu
Does being a psychopath make you more successful?
May 29, 2014 -- Updated 1613 GMT (0013 HKT)
Are psychopaths more successful?
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Andy McNab argues being a psychopath is good for business, and that leaders should not have empathy
- The former SAS soldier and author is a psychopath and says he always knew he was different
- He tells Nina dos Santos he did not feel remorse when he killed during his time in the military
- But McNab says being a psychopath can be a matter of striking a balance
Editor's note: Nina dos Santos is
a news anchor and correspondent based in London. She is the host of CNN
International's new business show, The Business View, which airs
weekdays at 12pm CET. Follow her on Twitter or
tweet the show on #cnnbusinessview to tell us, after taking the test at
the bottom of the story, what your psychopath score is.
London (CNN) -- Andy McNab is trying to convince me that being a psychopath is good for business.
"When I look at CEOs, or
even political leaders, I don't want them to have empathy," he says.
"What I want them to do is to have focus and to make the best decisions
possible.
"I want them to be
ruthless," says the ex-soldier with a hint of passion so fierce it risks
betraying his claim to "have no feelings."
If the timbre of McNab's voice gives much away, his face is inscrutable in the darkened basement room chosen for our interview.
His true identity is hidden because of the anti-terrorism operations he was once engaged in as a member of Britain's elite SAS.
Nina Dos Santos
McNab isn't even his real
name, rather a pseudonym adopted to write the 1993 book, Bravo Two
Zero, recounting his time behind enemy lines in Iraq.
Trauma, it seems, has been a recurring theme in McNab's life, which may explain the man's ability to master his emotions.
Left at the door of a
London hospital as a baby in a Harrods carrier bag, McNab had a rough
upbringing, in and out of juvenile detention in South West London,
before finding himself suited to the discipline of the army, which he
joined at 19.
Although he was only officially diagnosed as a psychopath four years ago, McNab says he always knew he was different.
"As kids you run around
the housing estates in gangs," he says. "Well, when the gangs started
their smoking and their drinking, it didn't interest me at all... I was
always slightly detached from that."
As a professional
soldier, McNab says he first killed a person during his first year in
the military and was surprised to have felt no remorse.
In my line of work, I have found where I am on the psychopathic scale has been nothing but an advantage
Andy McNab
Andy McNab
"You are in a situation
where nine out of ten times in conflict they are trying to do the same
to you. So you've got a responsibility to yourself to stay alive...
you've got a responsibility to keep everybody else alive," he says.
But what exactly is a psychopath? And is the disorder a hindrance or can it be a help?
From Charles Manson, to
Ted Bundy, the annals of crime history are replete with examples of what
you might term traditional -- or dysfunctional -- psychopaths, people
capable of carrying out the most abhorrent crimes, those without feeling
or the ability establish meaningful relationships.
Now after extensive
research scientists have begun to realize a scale of less extreme
psychopathic traits that may lie in some of us, ones which, if harnessed
correctly, McNab says can be a secret weapon.
"When we look at
psychopaths, we always look at the Hannibal Lecter-type character. Or
Norman Bates, but it's a broad spectrum," he says.
"Focus is the key. And,
in my line of work, I have found where I am on the psychopathic scale
has been nothing but an advantage."
Today, though, the grenades and guns are long gone.
McNab saves his fighting
talk for the boardroom, coaching top management on how to become better
leaders, with a seat on five boards and a new book called The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success.
"The board room is the same as the situation room," McNab says. "Nine out of ten times the decision processes are the same.
"I tell them, get rid of
the empathy. Focus on what you've got to do. The most important thing
is the mission," he says. "Ask yourself what am I here to achieve?"
And "empathy," he concludes, "doesn't help you get there."
While McNab's message might sound harsh, his doctrine isn't new.
In 2011, Jon Ronson's
book "The Psychopath: A Journey Through the Madness of Industry"
estimated the incidence of psychopathy among CEOs was four times larger
than in the rest of society at large.
In an interview with
Forbes magazine, the journalist said the prevalence of psychopaths in
the business world appears heightened because capitalism selects for
their specific behavioral features.
Are psychopaths more successful?
The psychopath, Ronson
tells the publication has been "hailed and given high powered jobs, and
the more ruthlessly his administration behaved, the more his share price
shot up."
And nothing makes a share price soar more than news of cost cuts.
Which brings me to the question: how does a psychopath fire someone?
McNab, it seems, is often called upon to help navigate this corporate minefield.
"One particular woman I
spoke to was brought on board to make about 400 people redundant. She
had empathy for these people, for their families, for their mortgages."
"For her it was [taking]
a huge emotional toll. And it was a case of sitting down with her and
trying to get her to think of it in a different way."
So does McNab think the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho" to society's detriment?
"Certainly if we are
looking at capitalism, what we have seen is the ones who step up more
tend to be high on the psychopath trait level. That doesn't mean to say
they're the Gordon Gekko types. Far from it."
McNab says some two
million people have logged on to take his web site's psychopath test
while numerous chief executives have bought his new book.
But McNab insists he isn't trying to convert all heads of industry to his unique line of thought.
"We're not trying to make everyone a psychopath. That would be totally counterproductive.
"What we are trying to
do is to clear the decks for them to understand how their brands work,
how their brains work, so that they can become more productive."
And to sum up his strategy McNab uses a word rarely mentioned in the context of the psychopath's condition.
"It's about striking a balance," he says.
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