Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY—EUCtJust: Individual has right to request removal of information from Internet search results, (May 14, 2014)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The operator of an Internet search engine was responsible for the processing of personal data that appears on web pages published by third parties and was obligated, in certain circumstances, to remove links to inaccurate or irrelevant information on individuals from search results if requested, the European Court of Justice has ruled (Google Spain SL v. Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos, May 13, 2014).

In 2010, Mario Costeja Gonzalez, a Spanish national, filed a complaint with the Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos (AEPD) against Google and the publisher of a daily newspaper. Gonzalez contended that, when an Internet user entered his name in the search engine, the list of results displayed links to two pages in the newspaper that contained an announcement of an auction following attachment proceedings against Gonzalez. Gonzales requested that the newspaper be required to remove or alter the pages so the personal data relating to him no longer appeared. He stated that the attachment proceedings concerning him were fully resolved and no longer relevant. The AEPD rejected Gonzalez’s claim against the newspaper, finding that the information had been lawfully published. However, the complaint was upheld against Google. The AEPD requested that Google and Google Spain take measures to withdraw the data from its index and remove access to the data in the future. Google brought the action before the General Court, claiming the AEPD decision should be annulled.

Directive 95/46 of the European Union (EU) has the objective of protecting the fundamental rights of natural persons, in particular the right of privacy, when personal data is processed while removing obstacles to the free flow of such data.

The General Court noted that—by searching automatically, constantly. and systematically for information published on the Internet—the operator of the search engine “collects” data within the meaning of the directive. The operator retrieves, records, and organizes the collected data, stores it on its servers, and makes it available to users in the form of lists of search results. Its operations must be classified as processing, regardless of the fact that the operator of the search engine carries them out without distinction in respect of information other than the personal data.

The operator is, in certain circumstances, obliged to remove links to web pages that are published by third parties and contain information relating to a person from the list of results displayed following a search made on the basis of that person’s name, the General Court determined. The processing of personal data carried out by the operator enables any Internet user, when he makes a search on the basis of an individual’s name, to obtain, through the list of results, a structured overview of the information relating to that individual on the Internet. This information potentially concerns a vast number of aspects of his private life. Internet users may thereby establish a detailed profile of the person searched against. Further, the effect of the interference with the person’s rights is heightened by the important role played by the Internet in modern society, which renders the information contained in such lists of results ubiquitous. In the light of its potential seriousness, such interference cannot be justified by merely the economic interest the search engine operator has in the data processing, the court observed.

However, the removal of links from the list of results could, depending on the information at issue, have effects upon the legitimate interest of Internet users in having access to that information. A fair balance should be sought between that interest and the data subject’s fundamental rights and the right to protection of personal data, the court noted.

Finally, the directive enables the data subject to request that links to web pages be removed from such a list of results on the grounds that he wishes the information appearing on those pages relating to him personally to be ‘forgotten’ after a certain time. The General Court held that, following a request by the data subject, if the links are to information that is inaccurate or no longer relevant, the links and information in the list of search results must be erased.

The case is No. C-131/12.

Companies: Google Spain SL, Google, Inc.

Cases: Privacy