Right to Oblivion: how it works in the European Union

Right to Oblivion: how it works in the European Union

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In the current framework of information and communication technologies, important branches such as law, are witnessing a profound advance and transformation. As a result of this, we find the right to forget as a power to request the deletion or modification of personal information of those media that publish, collect or disseminate them.

The search engine, forced to exercise the right to forget

En su virtud, el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea, en aplicación de la European Parliament Directive 95/46/EC and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, considers, in a judgment delivered on 13 May 2014, that the handling of personal data by an Internet search engine must be qualified as processing of personal data and, therefore, responsible for such processing.

On the other hand, the manager of a search engine that handles personal data, is obliged to remove them, even if the publication is lawful.

Finally, the right to oblivion will primarily protect the interests of the person exercising this power, prevailing over both the economic interest of the search engine manager and the interest of the public in accessing such information, in all countries of the European Union. However, in certain specific cases, the public interest could prevail over the right to oblivion.

Therefore, the Court of Justice of the European Union protects the person concerned to delete their personal data and implement their right to forget those managers of information or computer media where it is stored, ie, looks after the interests of the subject who exercises the right to forget.

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