Impact of the CJEU's Right to Be Forgotten
| Author | Christopher Wolf |
| Published date | 01 September 2014 |
| Date | 01 September 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1023263X1402100308 |
| Subject Matter | Legal Debate |
21 MJ 3 (2014) 547
IMPACT OF THE CJEU’S RIGHT
TO BE FORGOTTEN
Decision on Search Engines and Other
ServiceProviders in Europe
Case C–131/12 Google v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPO) and Mario
Costeja Gonzalez, Judgment of 13 May 2014
C W*
§1. IN TROD UC TI ON
On 13May 2014, the Court of Justice of t he European Union (CJEU) issued a ruling
that search engines c an be forced to remove certain search results lin king to web pages
that contain informat ion (even truthful and acc urate information) found to violate
individuals’ f undamental right to privacy.1
In its ruling , the CJEU extends the scope of the Europea n data protection framework
to include non-EU companies that have a branch or subsidiary in an EU Member State
and collect data in t he context of business activ ities in the EU. While t he extension of
EU jurisdiction has been e valuated by the CJEU in reference to this pa rticular c ase, its
practical implicat ions on web-based business activity a re potentially broad. In e ect,
the ruling i nvites European regu lators to force non-EU based businesses to conform
their websites to comply with EU data protection law just because they have a physical
presence within t he EU.
e CJEU ruling stems from a complaint lodged w ith the Spanish Data Protec tion
Authority (AEPD) by Spanish businessman Mr. Mario Cos teja González regarding
two 1998-newspaper articles l inking Costeja G onzález to an init iative to recover social
* Christopher Wolf leads t he Global Privac y and Information Man agement Practice at Hoga n Lovells US
LLP and is the Fou nder and Co-Chair of t he Future of Privacy For um think tan k.
1 e Court rel ied on Articles7 and 8 of t he Charter of Fundamental Ri ghts of the European Union,
[2000] OJ C 326/02.
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