Hi guys, im new on here and would like some advice on a few things but todays first enquiry is about how to have Google take down any links regarding news about my conviction. My conviction from about 4 years ago now was being in possession of indecent images of minors, all be it at the very lower end of the scale.
I wrote to google asking for my links to be taken down as it feels like a noose around my neck and i feel i cant move on and normalise with that hanging over me, not to mention the fact that someone i know or down know can still access that horrible news with all my personal details including my name etc?
I applied about 2 years ago and was refused and told that its too early to apply,
HAS ANYONE HERE APPLIED FOR THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN BY GOOGLE AND HAD SUCCESS?
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS REGARDING HOW TO GO ABOUT DOING IT ?

Also My PPO recently changed and a new lady marched in my flat like the new sheriff in town saying that i had to have an app called ESAFE installed on my phone and laptop as a monitoring service and did i have it , i told her NO and it was the first ive even heard about it !
I dont remember seeing it on my SOPO, i wonder if im being tricked into something that i dont need to even had, no previous PPO,s even mentioned such an app.
I cant help feeling the police are taking liberties with this? Any thoughts ?

BTW, i am not working and am on benefits, i can not afford a lower or solicitor to ask for advice on these matters, does anyone within the London region(North) have any suggestions of solicitors who can provide legal aid so i can take my case back to court and get general advice??

Finally, I received a 6 month sentence and served it as well as a 3 year probation period (all finished now) and like i said my offence was at the very lower end of the scale (not making excuses) However i was given an INDEFINATE SOPO period wgich seems very harsh, i met many guys who had commited much serious sexual offences who only where given 10 years ! How would i contest this ? I really dont know where to start with all this stuff and would really appretiate any advice from fellow persons on the SOR.

Thank you

I'll start by saying that I haven't made that application, as my conviction will never become spent. You have to wait until your conviction is spent, or they will almost certainly refuse your application. While your SOPO is in force, your conviction is unspent. You can always contact the Unlock helpline for information and advice.

Regarding the monitoring software, it's important that you are clear about what is in your SOPO and what isn't. Get hold of a copy and check it, because if it's not in there, you don't have to have the software installed. If it is in there, refusing to have it installed would probably be treated as a breach and I suspect they would have no qualms about taking you back to court.

Speaking of court, the length of the SOPO should be the same as your time on the SOR. If it isn't, that is against the guidelines given to the court over ten years ago. Also, having an indefinite SOPO will keep you on the SOR until the order is ended, even if your normal time is over. You would need to go back to the court where you were sentenced and ask them to amend it in line with the Smith and others guidelines. That shouldn't be a controversial issue, so the court could deal with that administratively. That's what they did when they updated my order. Again, Unlock can give you advice on this. Once it's in line with the guidelines, it will end automatically when the time comes and the police should effectively lose interest in you. Your conviction will become spent as well, so you can apply to Google again to have those links filtered and they should do it. 

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If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

I tried to do this a couple of years ago - Actually documented the process on here in one of the threads.

Long story short - Zero success for me as it was "still in public interest". ICO were as much use as a chocolate fireguard and actually ended up causing more problems. That being said, my offence wasn't spent at that time.

My offence is spent now so I'm actually going to give it a go this afternoon and see how we get on.

EDIT:
So I've had the links and removal spiel saved and ready to go for a while, so I've just pulled the trigger and submitted for my search results to be removed so fingers crossed! I will obviously let everyone know how I get on.

Hi Good man, welcome to the forum. Many of us on this forum have already been through what you're going through, so it's a great place for advice. As you might expect, I don't think there's any great positives with these orders.

AB is right, the police can not decide whether you have a monitoring app or not, they must only follow what's on your order. If your order does not state anything about monitoring software, you do not need to install it. So you can push back on that. I've had to push back on all sorts that my officer has tried it on with.
After five years (minimum) you can take your order back to court and try to get it amended, shortened etc but until then you're stuck with it. I take it you're 3 years in already, so I'd maybe think about preparing to do this. It is possible to do it for free, check out some of the other threads as a couple of other members are going through this process.
The order also means your conviction will be 'unspent' until it is discharged (this is largely why trying to remove links on Google fails). Getting 6 months and an indefinite order seems harsh but then I don't know the ins and outs of your conviction. The 'unspent' rule is what has caused me so much frustration because it affects jobs, insurance, disclosure of convictions, all sorts, which have nothing to do with the conviction but hugely affect our lives day-to-day.
The Google effect - it depends on jobs/circumstances, what you want to do, the rules around disclosure for work seem to vary from force to force. Police may take the view for some jobs you don't need to disclose if you're not asked to, but there's all sorts of ifs and buts around this. It's a headache because the only way to get away from being Googled right now is to change your name, however, you may have to disclose the conviction to an employer anyway. I have a few more years left being unspent, but I've changed my name because it was causing problems for me.
As mentioned, the helplines at Unlock, NACRO and Lucy Faithful are all really helpful, I've used them all for different things, they're not judgemental AT ALL, so do make use of them. Hope this helps.

PS. How are you getting on Khafka? Does it feel more like living in the real world again? Mental health doing well with consistent work etc? Meeting people? No more unannounced knocks lol

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Fighting or Accepting - its difficult to know which is right and when.

Honestly, doesn't feel that much different. The Google effect was still at the back of my mind but I've addressed that and as of this afternoon they said they'll be removing the results which is obviously fantastic news.

Mental health has gotten a bit better, I'm on medication and have been for a wee while now which I feel is helping, thanks for asking! I've had a couple of unannounced knocks but thankfully nothing bad, just E.ON wanting to read my gas meter! haha