Questioning the Right to Be Forgotten

Lindsay David , ‘The “Right to Be Forgotten” in European Data Protection Law’ in Witzleb Normann , Emerging Challenges in Privacy Law: Comparative Perspectives (Cambridge, 2014) 290, 293.

Google Spain SL, Google Inc v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja Gonzàlez (Court of Justice of the European Union, C-131/12, 13 May 2014) <http://curia.europa.eu/juris/celex.jsf?celex=62012CJ0131&lang1=en&type=TXT&ancre=> (‘Google Spain’). For a case note on point, see Susi Mart , ‘The Right to be Forgotten’ (2014) 88 Australian Law Journal 608.

Including articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Directive 95/46 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, OJ 1995 L 281, adopted 24 October 1995 ('Directive 95/46/EC).

Google Spain, above n 2, [58].

Google Spain, above n 2, [92].

See further Frantziou Eleni , 'Further Developments in the Right to be Forgotten: The European Court of Justice's Judgment in Case C-131/12, Google Spain, SL, Google Inc v Argencia Espanola de Proteccionnde Datos (2014) Human Rights Law Review 1 (forthcoming).

Google Spain, above n 2, [97], [99].

Google Spain, above n 2, [36].

The White House, Net Neutrality: President Obama's Plan for a Free and Open Internet (10 November 2014) <http://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality>.

Mill John Stuart , On Liberty (Longman, 1865) 13.

Google , European Privacy Requests for Search Removals (29 April 2015) Google Transparency Report <http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/europeprivacy/?hl=en>.

See Bing , Request to Block Bing Search Results in Europe (2015) <https://www.bing.com/webmaster/tools/eu-privacy-request>.

Dredge Stuart , ‘Microsoft and Yahoo Respond to European “Right to be Forgotten” Requests’, The Guardian (online), 1 December 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/01/microsoft-yahoo-right-to-be-forgotten>.

See Fleisher Lisa , ‘In Europe, Microsoft and Yahoo Have Started to Forget’, The Wall Street Journal (online), 28 November 2014 <http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/11/28/in-europe-microsoft-and-yahoo-have-started-to-forget/>.

See Miller Charles , ‘Google's ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Tour Comes to London’, BBC (online), 17 October 2014 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogcollegeofjournalism/posts/Googles-right-to-be-forgotten-tour-comes-to-London>.

See Lee Dave , ‘Google Removing BBC Link was “Not a Good Judgement”’, BBC News (online), 3 July 2014 <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-28144406>. It is important to note that the right to be forgotten is not absolute, and neither is the right to privacy. Rather, these rights need to be balanced against competing rights, such as the right to information.

WP 225, Guidelines on the Implementation of the Court of Justice of the European Union Judgment on ‘Google Spain and Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja Gonzales’ C-131-12 (Adopted 26 November 2014).

Ibid 3 [7].

Zittrain Jonathan , ‘Don't Force Google to “Forget”’, The New York Times (online), 14 May 2014 <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/opinion/dont-force-google-to-forget.html?_r=0>.

‘Should Digital Monopolies be Broken Up?’, The Economist (online), 29 November 2014 <http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21635000-european-moves-against-google-are-about-protecting-companies-not-consumers-should-digital>.

See further van Alsenoy Brendan Koekkoek Marieke , ‘The Extra-territorial Reach of the EU's “Right to be Forgotten”’ (ICRI Research Paper 20, 19 January 2015) <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2551838>.

See Whitney Lance , ‘Google advisers: Limit “Right to be Forgotten” to Europe’, CNET (online), 7 February 2015 <http://www.cnet.com/au/news/google-advisers-limit-right-to-be-forgotten-to-europe/>.

Watt Nicholas Sweney Mark ‘Sajid Javid: Terrorists and Criminals are Exploiting “Right to be Forgotten”’, The Guardian (online), 12 November 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/11/sajid-javid-terrorists-criminals-right-to-be-forgotten>.

See Lee Dave , ‘BBC to Publish “Right to be Forgotten” Removals List’, BBC News (online), 17 October 2014 <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29658085>.

See, eg, Hidden From Google (2014) <http://hiddenfromgoogle.afaqtariq.com/>.

For example, Powles Julia , ‘What did the Media Miss with the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Coverage?’, The Guardian (online), 21 May 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/21/what-did-the-media-miss-with-the-right-to-be-forgotten-coverage>.

Mayer-Schönberger Viktor , Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in a Digital Age (Princeton U Press, 2009); Blanchette Jean-Francois Johnson Deborah G , ‘Data Retention and the Panoptic Society: The Social Benefits of Forgetfulness’ (2002) 18(1) The Information Society 33; Wilson Shaun , ‘Remixing Memory on Digital Media’ in Garde-Hansen Joanne Hoskins Andrew Reading Anna (eds), Save As … Digital Memories (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) 184, 193.

See Clark Andy Chalmers David , ‘The Extended Mind’ (1998) 58(1) Analysis 7.

See, eg, Balym Todd (@toddbalym), Twitter (27 November 2014) <https://twitter.com/toddbalym/status/537935134989643776>.