The Federal Institute for Information Access and Data Protection (IFAI) has taken the step following a request from an unidentified person who had asked Google Mexico to erase his personal data from the search engine and to stop using it.
The institute noted that in December 2014 it had tried to make the company comply with the request. But that failed after the company argued that its parent Google and not Google Mexico was responsible for the search engine.
According to Mexican law, the first sanctions applied to those in breach of data protection laws force them to comply with the government’s order. Failing that, they can face a series of fines of up to USD 1.5 million (MXN 22.4 million).The Mexican case follows complaints by Internet users against Google over data protection in a number of countries.
In June 2014, European Union ministers agreed that companies based outside the bloc such as Google must meet Europe’s data protection rules.
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