Popular search engine Google has received 275 requests from Maltese nationals to have information about them deleted.

The information was revealed in Google’s transparency report, in which it listed the number of requests it had received from people in different countries for the deletion of information on the search engine.

A total of 348,085 requests were received, the bulk from France and Germany, followed by the UK, Spain and Italy.

Google evaluated more than 1.2 million URLs for removal but it did not give exact numbers on how many of those were actually deleted, saying only that 42 per cent of the URLs that were processed were removed.

In its report, Google gave examples of requests it received.

One from the UK, which was denied, was from a media professional who asked Google to remove four links to articles reporting on “embarrassing content” he posted online.

Another request, which was granted, was from an individual who objected to a link to an article on a contest in which he participated as a minor.

A priest from France who had been convicted for possession of child sex abuse photographs asked Google to remove articles reporting on his case and judgment and his banishment from the Church. Google did not accede to the request.

A similar refusal was given to an Austrian couple who had been accused of business fraud and who wanted articles about their crime to be deleted.

Google received multiple requests from an Italian individual who asked for the removal of 20 links to recent articles about his arrest for financial crimes committed in a professional capacity. Google refused.

A British doctor asked for the removal of more than 50 links to newspaper articles about a botched procedure in which he was involved. Three pages that contained personal information about the doctor, but which did not mention the procedure, were removed from search results for his name. But the rest of the links to reports on the incident remained.

Google removed pages reporting about a German teacher convicted for a minor crime over 10 years ago.

The requests are processed by a team of dedicated staff at Google Corporation. In case of difficulties, lawyers are consulted for a second opinion.

Some of the most common material factors involved in decisions to delist pages include clear absence of public interest, sensitive information, such as information about someone’s health, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion or political affiliation, content relating to minors and spent convictions, exonerations and acquittals for crimes.