Germany is considering setting up “cyber courts” to rule on clashes between individuals seeking to protect their privacy and search engines, after a landmark ruling ordered Google and its rivals to delete links to sensitive personal information.

In one of the first clear signs of how governments will respond to the precedent set by the European Court of Justice this month, Germany’s interior ministry said making judgments on such conflicts should not be “left up to a Google algorithm”.

Since the ruling, Google has received hundreds of requests asking for links to be deleted – from European citizens including politicians seeking to conceal romantic affairs, academics trying to hide details of university posts that have been terminated and stalkers.