A Japanese man has asked Google to suspend its autocomplete feature on the basis that the function is an invasion of his privacy and cost him his job.

When searching for his name on the popular site, Google's autocomplete function matched the Japanese man's name -which was not disclosed- with a number of criminal acts, according to Zdnet.

Around 10, 000 defamatory items come up in the search.

The man suspects that the autocomplete function may have been the reason he lost his job a few years ago and has been unable to find employment since then.

The man wrote to Google about the problem, asking it to delete some of the words associated with his name. Google rejected the request, stating that the autocomplete function suggested words mechanically and that it could not be an invasion of privacy.

According to Google's help site, predicted queries are algorithmically determined based on a number of purely algorithmic factors (including popularity of search terms) without human intervention.

The man brought the case to the Tokyo District Court last October.

It could lead to irretrievable damage such as a loss of job or bankruptcy just by showing search results that constitute defamation or a violation of the privacy of an individual person or small and medium sized companies, said the man's lawyer Hioyuki Tomita.

Google refused to get rid of the autocomplete feature because its headquarters in California will not be regulated by Japanese law and that this particular case does not warrant deleting autocomplete suggests, according to the Japan Times.

These searches are produced by a number of factors including the popularity of search terms, the company told BBC News.

Google does not determine these terms manually - all of the queries shown in autocomplete have been typed previously by other Google users.

Google's help site states that they apply a narrow set of removal policies for pornography, violence, hate speech, and terms that are frequently used to find content that infringes copyrights.

A Japanese court issued a provisional order requesting Google to delete specific terms from autocomplete, the company in a statement.

The judge did not require Google to completely suspend the autocomplete function.

The Tokyo District Court approved a legal request last week asking Google to remove the auto completion results by Sunday. As of Monday no action has been taken, said Tomita.

The case is the first one to order Google to suspend its autocomplete feature in Japan, Tomita said. The autocomplete feature instantly anticipates words and phrases a person will type into the search box.

It is necessary to establish a measure to enable swift redress for damage in the event of a clear breach, Tomita said. The lawyer said his client will take further legal action if Google continues to neglect the court order.

Google has faced similar cases pertaining to its autocomplete function. In an ongoing case in the UK, former motor racing boss Max Mosley asked Google to remove certain search results that link his name to stories about his sex life. Last year an Italian man asked Google to remove search results that linked his name to 'con man' and 'fraud.' In France an insurance company sued the Tech giant after finding its name was linked to the word 'crook.'

Google said it was reviewing the order.

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