- Henry Park
Google can forget
Earlier this year, I blogged about the Google v. CNIL case concerning the reach of the EU "Right to be Forgotten" and how the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) had opined that the "Right to be Forgotten" should be limited to the EU.
On September 24th, the CJEU ruled that the "Right to be Forgotten" is limited to the EU (see copy of decision). “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" (Decision, paragraph 65). "EU law [only] requires a search engine operator to carry out such a de-referencing on the versions of its search engine corresponding to all the [European Union] member states" (Decision, paragraph 73).
Thus, Google can "forget" information concerning EU nationals when a search is performed from within the EU. But, in truth, Google will not truly forget that information.
Image is from the public domain.