The Right to be Forgotten – It’s about time, or is it?

Jef Ausloos

CPDP Panel: Timing the Right to be ForgottenJanuary 23rd, 2014

Umbrella Term

The Right to be Forgotten

Defamation LawGeneral Right to Privacy

Intellectual Property RightsData Protection Law

General Tort Law

General Right to Privacy (art.8 ECHR)

• Public exposure of private information

• In a disproportionate, unfair or unreasonable way

• Usually by the media

• Right to Privacy >< Right to Freedom of Expression

• ECtHR Case-law:o ORF v Austria (7 Dec. 2006, No.35841/02);o Editions Plon v France (18 May 2004, No. 58148/00);o …

Data Protection: Right to Erasure

Article 12 DPD:

“Member States shall guarantee every data subject the right to obtain from the controller: […]

(b) as appropriate the rectification, erasure or blocking of data the processing of which does not comply with the provisions of this Directive, in particular because of the incomplete or inaccurate nature of the data;”

Data Protection: Right to Erasure

• Purpose Specification & Use Limitationo Legitimacy can evolve over timeo Data might become unnecessary, irrelevant or inadequate

• Legitimate Groundo Article 7(f): legitimate interests of the controller >< fundamental

rights and freedoms of the data subjecto Balance might evolve over time

• Right to Objecto Compelling and legitimate groundso Passing of time as an argument

Google Spain Case (CJEU C-131/12)

National level:

•Lack of territorial and temporal limitations

•Ease of dissemination and retrieval

•Originally lawful and accurate data can become outdated

=> Potential harm to data subjects

Draft Data Protection Regulation

…

§7. The controller shall implement mechanisms to ensure that the time limits established for the erasure of personal data and/or for a periodic review of the need for the storage of the data are observed.

Article 17 – The Right to be Forgotten and to Erasure

Conclusion /1

• Ever more easy to capture, store, process and retrieve

personal data

• Variety of applicable legal regimes

• Data Protection law increasingly appealing

• Removal of information Balance of interest to be made

Conclusion /2

Balancing Exercise

Time

Other LegalFrameworks

Public Interest

Notorietyof Individual

Context

…

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Thank you for your attention!

Jef Ausloos

Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT(ICRI - iMinds), University of Leuven

jef.ausloos@law.kuleuven.bewww.icri.be

@Jausl00s - @ICRI_be