News and Research articles on Right to be forgotten

Not just one, but many ‘Rights to be Forgotten’

Geert Van Calster, KU Leuven
Alejandro Gonzalez Arreaza, KU Leuven
Elsemiek Apers, Conseil International du Notariat Belge
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.794

Since being first developed through the case law of the European Court of Justice, the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) has rapidly diffused beyond its European origins: in Latin America for instance. This paper documents the wide spectrum of interpretations the RTBF has had across countries and data protection authorities.

Data control and digital regulatory space(s): towards a new European approach

Roxana Radu, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Jean-Marie Chenou, University of Lausanne
PUBLISHED ON: 30 Jun 2015 DOI: 10.14763/2015.2.370

This article examines the stance of the European Union vis-à-vis internet services company Google in two controversial instances: the ‘right to be forgotten’ and the implementation of EU competition rules.

The so-called right to be forgotten needs to be discussed a little more. Google has received 70,000 requests for takedowns of search results since the decision of the European Court of Justice in May 2014. Now the company gets support from an unexpected place: a German constitutional judge warns against potential dangers of the decision.

The European Union’s Court of Justice has ruled against Google in a case in which a Spanish citizen, backed by his national data protection authority, wanted the company to remove search links to an old local newspaper story related to his bankruptcy. Jef Ausloos argues that implications should not be too extreme, but warns of the Court’s prioritising of data subjects over internet users.