Right to be forgotten

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Created: Friday, September 04 2015 11:14

A recent Judgment of the European Court of Justice has extensive implications for internet search engines and for the extent of the information available to the general public when carrying out name searches using internet search engines.

In a decision Google Spain v. AEPD on 13 May 2014 concerning the application of the Data Protection Directive, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled that, in certain circumstances, an individual has the right to have information removed from the results of an internet search carried out against his or her name.

In the case, the applicant objected to the fact that a search of his name on Google returned an article from a Spanish newspaper from 10 years before, which stated that certain of his assets were to be auctioned off to pay off outstanding social security debts. It was the applicant’s view that the information was no longer relevant and that his data protection rights were violated. The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) agreed with the applicant and directed Google to remove the articles. The ECJ subsequently upheld this position and held that a person could request certain information to be removed if “the data appeared to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant.”

The apparent right created by the decision has become known as the “right to be forgotten”.

Following the ECJ ruling affirming the “right to be forgotten”, Google (which processes more than 90% of all web searches in Europe) rolled out a web form through which European citizens can request that links to information about them be taken off search results.

When filing a request on a “forget me” form, an individual will have to submit an objectionable link and explain why the link is “irrelevant, outdated or otherwise inappropriate”, wording that goes back to the original court ruling about why material can be removed. Each request is then examined on a case by case basis by the internet search engine, to assess if removal of a link is justified.

If a request is approved, it means the article or page relating to that person will not appear for any search results using the person’s name. In the event that Google decides not to remove a disputed link, an individual can then appeal said refusal to the Data Protection Commissioner.

The “right to be forgotten” is based on privacy rights of individuals and does not apply to companies.