This document discusses the right to be forgotten and analyzes it through different legal frameworks such as data protection law, privacy law, and defamation law. It examines how the right to erasure under the Data Protection Directive allows individuals to request data controllers erase personal data when its processing no longer complies with the law due to being incomplete or inaccurate over time. The document also summarizes the 2014 Google Spain case where the CJEU established territorial and temporal limitations on the right to be forgotten online. It concludes that balancing various factors like public interest, context, an individual's notoriety, and the passage of time is needed when determining right to erasure requests.

1. The Right to be Forgotten –
It’s about time, or is it?
Jef Ausloos
CPDP Panel: Timing the Right to be Forgotten
January 23rd, 2014

2. Umbrella Term
General Right to Privacy
Defamation Law
The Right to be Forgotten
Data Protection Law
General Tort Law
Intellectual Property Rights

3. 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
o
o
ORF v Austria (7 Dec. 2006, No.35841/02);
Editions Plon v France (18 May 2004, No. 58148/00);
…

4. 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;”

5. Data Protection: Right to Erasure
• Purpose Specification & Use Limitation
o
o
Legitimacy can evolve over time
Data might become unnecessary, irrelevant or inadequate
• Legitimate Ground
o
o
Article 7(f): legitimate interests of the controller >< fundamental
rights and freedoms of the data subject
Balance might evolve over time
• Right to Object
o
o
Compelling and legitimate grounds
Passing of time as an argument

6. 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•Originally lawful and accurate data can become outdated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

7. Draft Data Protection Regulation
Article 17 – The Right to be Forgotten and to Erasure
…
§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.

8. 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

9. Conclusion /2
…
Public Interest
Context
Notoriety
of Individual
Time
Balancing Exercise
Other Legal
Frameworks
…

10. Thank you for your attention!
Jef Ausloos
Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT
(ICRI - iMinds), University of Leuven
jef.ausloos@law.kuleuven.be
www.icri.be
@Jausl00s - @ICRI_be