The right to be forgotten was established by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in the 2014 case Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González.
The CJEU ruled that individuals have the right to request the removal of personal information published online that is inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant, and where the processing of such information is not in the public interest. This decision established the right to erasure under Article 17 of the UK GDPR.
Personal information refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. This can include your name, image, news articles, criminal and civil proceedings, information about your personal and professional life and negative allegations that could be posted on social media posts or blogs.
Under the GDPR, individuals have the right to request the erasure of their personal data from Google and other data controllers under certain circumstances, including when the data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, when the individual withdraws consent, or when the data has been unlawfully processed. However, this right is not absolute and must be balanced against other rights, such as freedom of expression and the public interest.
Online platforms and search engines, such as Google, are required to assess requests for erasure and determine whether the information meets the criteria for removal. If the request is granted, the platform must remove the links to the information from search results.
ClearMySearch.co.uk 