Do You Have The Right To Be Forgotten?

The right to be forgotten is concept that has been defined as a desire of individuals to "determine the development of their life in an autonomous way, without being perpetually or periodically stigmatized as a consequence of a specific action performed in the past." This concept is perhaps recently established although the idea is not a new one and in fact, has been upheld to some extent, often in national legislations. In some cases the dissemination of information is forbidden after a certain time period, one example is the criminal record and another is the individual credit agency…..
The digital era has without a doubt substantially changed how we look at and access information. This connects to some of our fundamental rights and freedoms,

The cause of the complaint was that when Mr González’s name was entered into Google´s search engine online, it would provide two links to La Vangardia´s newspaper where Mr Gonzalez´s name was mentioned in connection to a real estate auction with attachment proceedings for the recovery of social security debts.
Mr Gonzáles wanted the newspaper and Google Inc, and/or it´s subsidiary Google Spain, to remove or alter the record so this information would no longer be accessible through Internet search engines, such as Google search. His argument was mainly that the aforementioned proceedings had been resolved years ago and any reference to it was now irrelevant hence, they should no longer appear online.
The Data protection agency dismissed the complaint against the newspaper, claiming legality on grounds of a ministerial order from the Ministry of labour and Social Affairs, concerning publication of auctions. It, however upheld the claims vis-a-vis Google Spain and Google Inc on the grounds that because Internet search engines operators in fact process personal data, they are subject to data protection legislation and can be under the obligation to remove information that compromise the fundamental right to

The third question is aimed at determining the scope of the “right to be forgotten.” If it extends to the right of an individual to request that data concerning him, should be erased.

Regarding the 2nd question, the court found that the activity of Internet search engines by collecting, indexing, storing and disclosing personal data would be classified as “processing” personal data under article 2(c) of the Directive. Additionally, the court was of the opinion that Google Search engine would fall under the category of “controller” within the Directive, as that concept must be broadly interpreted in order to ensure “effective and complete protection of data subjects.”
Regarding territorial scope of the Directive as implemented by the national laws of Spain, it concluded that Google, as a controller of personal data, is subjected to provision 4(1)(a),
Of the directive as Google´s subsidiary, Google Spain is an establishment in Spain.
Finally, the Court defined the extent of Google’s responsibility as an Internet search engine relating to personal information published by third party websites. Where the data subject requested this information to be rectified, blocked, or erased because of inaccuracy or incompleteness. Furthermore, it pressed that the data subject had a right to object at any time on legitimate grounds and if well founded, the controller was obliged to exclude the data from the search