Google expert panel 'wants right to be forgotten limited to European Union'

The report would put the group at odds with EU data- protection regulators who have urged the company to allow people to seek the deletion of links to some personal data on the company's main US website.

The issue is dividing the eight-person panel, according to one member of the panel who declined to be identified because the report isn't public.

"The majority of the members, in my view, will say that the right to be forgotten should apply only as far as European domains are concerned and not beyond," Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a former German justice minister and another member of the panel, said in an interview.

"The members are still debating about this issue before the report can be finalised."

A ruling by the EU Court of Justice last year created a right to be forgotten, allowing people to delete links on search engines if the information was outdated or irrelevant. The ruling created a furor, with Mountain View, California-based Google appointing the panel to advise it on implementing the law.

The group, which includes Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, visited seven European cities, from Rome to Berlin, listening to academics and public officials. (Bloomberg)

Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels, said the final report wasn't ready.