A top adviser at the European Court of Justice has said web users' 'right to be forgotten' by Google should only apply in the EU.

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has issued a preliminary opinion, which are often endorsed by the court in their final decision.

Under the 'right to be forgotten', individuals in the EU can ask search engines such as Google to remove links to web pages which they believe violate their right to privacy.

EU data protection rules have also put increased legal obligations on companies to remove personal data when requested.

However, a legal battle over the 'right to be forgotten' began in 2015 after the French National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties (CNIL) ordered Google that any removal should apply globally.

Google refused to comply, prompting the CNIL to fine it €100,000.

The case then moved to the French Council of State, with Google seeking to have the decision annulled - with the council then referring several questions to the ECJ.

In his preliminary opinion, Advocate General Szpunar suggests that search requests made outside the EU "should not be affected by the de-referencing of the search results".

In a statement, the court said: "He is therefore not in favour of giving the provisions of EU law such a broad interpretation that they would have effects beyond the borders of the 28 Member States."

However, he added that search operators must take "every measure available to it to ensure full and effective de-referencing within the EU" - such as using 'geo-blocking' technology to ensure users in Europe aren't shown the removed links, regardless of what domain they're using.

ECJ judges will now make the final decision in the case following the Advocate General's recommendation.