The concept, which was enshrined in European law in 2014, acknowledges the right of an individual to demand that data – if “inadequate”, “irrelevant” or “excessive” – associated with certain internet records may be deleted such that they cannot be found by search engines used in EU countries. This does not affect the existence of the web page containing the information. The right to be forgotten was incorporated into European law after Mario Costeja, a Spanish citizen, fought to remove outdated search engine links related to debts which had since been settled.

A legal case over the scope of the de-referencing law was set in motion in 2015 when the French data regulator (CNIL) took a case to the ECJ to determine whether the right to be forgotten could be extended beyond google.fr and other European versions of Google. CNIL had fined Google €100,000 for refusing to delist sensitive information (including an article disclosing a person’s connection with the Church of Scientology and information about sexual misconduct investigations and convictions) from search listings upon request. The case was taken to the French Council of State, which sought a judgement from the ECJ: the highest court in the EU.

In January, ECJ adviser Maciej Szupunar submitted a non-binding opinion that the scope of the law should be limited to within the EU, arguing that the right to be forgotten should be balanced against other rights and “legitimate public interest”.

In a victory for Google, the ECJ has now ruled that that the right to be forgotten does not extend beyond the EU, as other countries have a “different approach” to the concept, with the compromise between right to privacy and right to information varying “significantly” around the world.

“Currently, there is no obligation under EU law, for a search engine operator who grants a request for de-referencing made by a data subject […] to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine,” the ECJ stated in its ruling.

“The court adds that the right to the protection of personal data is not an absolute right, but must be considered in relation to its function in society and be balanced against other fundamental rights, in accordance with the principle of proportionality,” the court concluded.

Google welcomed the ruling. Peter Fleischer, Google senior privacy counsel, commented: “Since 2014, we have worked hard to implement the right to be forgotten in Europe, and to strike a sensible balance between people’s rights of access to information and privacy. It’s good to see that the court agreed with our arguments, and we’re grateful to the independent human rights organisations, media associations and many others around the world who also presented their views to the court.”

The right to be forgotten is recognised to varying degrees in India, South Korea, and Argentina, among other countries.

The concept, which was enshrined in European law in 2014, acknowledges the right of an individual to demand that data – if “inadequate”, “irrelevant” or “excessive” – associated with certain internet records may be deleted such that they cannot be found by search engines used in EU countries. This does not affect the existence of the web page containing the information. The right to be forgotten was incorporated into European law after Mario Costeja, a Spanish citizen, fought to remove outdated search engine links related to debts which had since been settled.

A legal case over the scope of the de-referencing law was set in motion in 2015 when the French data regulator (CNIL) took a case to the ECJ to determine whether the right to be forgotten could be extended beyond google.fr and other European versions of Google. CNIL had fined Google €100,000 for refusing to delist sensitive information (including an article disclosing a person’s connection with the Church of Scientology and information about sexual misconduct investigations and convictions) from search listings upon request. The case was taken to the French Council of State, which sought a judgement from the ECJ: the highest court in the EU.

In January, ECJ adviser Maciej Szupunar submitted a non-binding opinion that the scope of the law should be limited to within the EU, arguing that the right to be forgotten should be balanced against other rights and “legitimate public interest”.

In a victory for Google, the ECJ has now ruled that that the right to be forgotten does not extend beyond the EU, as other countries have a “different approach” to the concept, with the compromise between right to privacy and right to information varying “significantly” around the world.

“Currently, there is no obligation under EU law, for a search engine operator who grants a request for de-referencing made by a data subject […] to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine,” the ECJ stated in its ruling.

“The court adds that the right to the protection of personal data is not an absolute right, but must be considered in relation to its function in society and be balanced against other fundamental rights, in accordance with the principle of proportionality,” the court concluded.

Google welcomed the ruling. Peter Fleischer, Google senior privacy counsel, commented: “Since 2014, we have worked hard to implement the right to be forgotten in Europe, and to strike a sensible balance between people’s rights of access to information and privacy. It’s good to see that the court agreed with our arguments, and we’re grateful to the independent human rights organisations, media associations and many others around the world who also presented their views to the court.”

The right to be forgotten is recognised to varying degrees in India, South Korea, and Argentina, among other countries.