Privacy, Freedom of Expression, and the Right to Be Forgotten in Europe external link

forthcoming in J. Polonetsky, O. Tene, E. Selinger (ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Privacy, 2017, 0302

Abstract

In this chapter we discuss the relation between privacy and freedom of expression in Europe. In principle, the two rights have equal weight in Europe – which right prevails depends on the circumstances of a case. We use the Google Spain judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, sometimes called the ‘right to be forgotten’ judgment, to illustrate the difficulties when balancing the two rights. The court decided in Google Spain that people have, under certain conditions, the right to have search results for their name delisted. We discuss how Google and Data Protection Authorities deal with such delisting requests in practice. Delisting requests illustrate that balancing privacy and freedom of expression interests will always remain difficult.

Criminal Conviction, Dutch Law, Freedom of expression, Freedom of Speech, frontpage, Personal data, Privacy, right to be forgotten, Search Engine, Sensitive Data, Special Categories of Data

Bibtex

Chapter{Kulk2017, title = {Privacy, Freedom of Expression, and the Right to Be Forgotten in Europe}, author = {Kulk, S. and Zuiderveen Borgesius, F.}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2923722}, year = {0302}, date = {2017-03-02}, abstract = {In this chapter we discuss the relation between privacy and freedom of expression in Europe. In principle, the two rights have equal weight in Europe – which right prevails depends on the circumstances of a case. We use the Google Spain judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, sometimes called the ‘right to be forgotten’ judgment, to illustrate the difficulties when balancing the two rights. The court decided in Google Spain that people have, under certain conditions, the right to have search results for their name delisted. We discuss how Google and Data Protection Authorities deal with such delisting requests in practice. Delisting requests illustrate that balancing privacy and freedom of expression interests will always remain difficult.}, keywords = {Criminal Conviction, Dutch Law, Freedom of expression, Freedom of Speech, frontpage, Personal data, Privacy, right to be forgotten, Search Engine, Sensitive Data, Special Categories of Data}, }

Het ‘right to be forgotten’ en bijzondere persoonsgegevens external link

Computerrecht, num: 4, pp: 220-225, 2017

Abstract

Een advocaat heeft een ‘right to be forgotten’-verzoek gedaan bij Google, met betrekking tot een blogpost over een strafrechtelijke veroordeling van de advocaat in het buitenland. De Rechtbank Rotterdam heeft beslist dat Google niet meer naar de blogpost mag verwijzen als mensen zoeken op de naam van de advocaat. De rechtbank wees het verwijderingsverzoek toe omdat de blogpost een strafrechtelijke veroordeling betreft: een bijzonder persoonsgegeven. De redenering van de rechtbank over bijzondere persoonsgegevens leidt tot problemen voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting. Deze bijdrage verkent hoe die problemen verkleind kunnen worden.

advocaat, frontpage, Persoonsgegevens, right to be forgotten, Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{Borgesius2017, title = {Het ‘right to be forgotten’ en bijzondere persoonsgegevens}, author = {Zuiderveen Borgesius, F.}, url = {https://www.ivir.nl/publicaties/download/Computerrecht_2016_4.pdf}, year = {0203}, date = {2017-02-03}, journal = {Computerrecht}, number = {4}, abstract = {Een advocaat heeft een ‘right to be forgotten’-verzoek gedaan bij Google, met betrekking tot een blogpost over een strafrechtelijke veroordeling van de advocaat in het buitenland. De Rechtbank Rotterdam heeft beslist dat Google niet meer naar de blogpost mag verwijzen als mensen zoeken op de naam van de advocaat. De rechtbank wees het verwijderingsverzoek toe omdat de blogpost een strafrechtelijke veroordeling betreft: een bijzonder persoonsgegeven. De redenering van de rechtbank over bijzondere persoonsgegevens leidt tot problemen voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting. Deze bijdrage verkent hoe die problemen verkleind kunnen worden.}, keywords = {advocaat, frontpage, Persoonsgegevens, right to be forgotten, Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }

Kroniek Mediarecht external link

KwartaalSignaal Ars Aequi, vol. 139, pp: 8075-8077, 2016

aansprakelijkheid internetplatform, censuur, google spain, klokkenluiders, media, mediawet, publieke omroep, reclame, right to be forgotten, toezicht, Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{Breemen2016b, title = {Kroniek Mediarecht}, author = {Breemen, V.}, url = {http://www.ivir.nl/kwartaalsignaal-139-mediarecht.pdf}, year = {0601}, date = {2016-06-01}, journal = {KwartaalSignaal Ars Aequi}, volume = {139}, pages = {8075-8077}, keywords = {aansprakelijkheid internetplatform, censuur, google spain, klokkenluiders, media, mediawet, publieke omroep, reclame, right to be forgotten, toezicht, Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }

Freedom of Expression and ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Cases in the Netherlands after Google Spain external link

European Data Protection Law Review, num: 2, pp: 113-125., 2015

Abstract

Since the Google Spain judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europeans have, under certain conditions, the right to have search results for their name delisted. This paper examines how the Google Spain judgment has been applied in the Netherlands. Since the Google Spain judgment, Dutch courts have decided on two cases regarding delisting requests. In both cases, the Dutch courts considered freedom of expression aspects of delisting more thoroughly than the Court of Justice. However, the effect of the Google Spain judgment on freedom of expression is difficult to assess, as search engine operators decide about most delisting requests without disclosing much about their decisions.

Data protection law, european court of justice, Freedom of expression, google spain, Grondrechten, Privacy, right to be delisted, right to be forgotten, search engines, the netherlands, Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Freedom of Expression and ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Cases in the Netherlands after Google Spain}, author = {Zuiderveen Borgesius, F.}, url = {http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2652171}, year = {0917}, date = {2015-09-17}, journal = {European Data Protection Law Review}, number = {2}, abstract = {Since the Google Spain judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Europeans have, under certain conditions, the right to have search results for their name delisted. This paper examines how the Google Spain judgment has been applied in the Netherlands. Since the Google Spain judgment, Dutch courts have decided on two cases regarding delisting requests. In both cases, the Dutch courts considered freedom of expression aspects of delisting more thoroughly than the Court of Justice. However, the effect of the Google Spain judgment on freedom of expression is difficult to assess, as search engine operators decide about most delisting requests without disclosing much about their decisions.}, keywords = {Data protection law, european court of justice, Freedom of expression, google spain, Grondrechten, Privacy, right to be delisted, right to be forgotten, search engines, the netherlands, Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }

Google Spain v. González: Did the Court forget about freedom of expression? external link

European Journal of Risk Regulation, num: 3, 2014

Abstract

In this note we discuss the controversial judgment in Google Spain v. González of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Our focus is on the judgment’s implications for freedom of expression. First, the facts of the case and the CJEU’s judgment are summarised. We then argue that the CJEU did not give enough attention to the right to freedom of expression. By seeing a search engine operator as a controller regarding the processing of personal data on third party web pages, the CJEU assigns the operator the delicate task of balancing the fundamental rights at stake. However, such an operator may not be the most appropriate party to balance the rights of all involved parties, in particular in cases where such a balance is hard to strike. Furthermore, it is a departure from human rights doctrine that according to the CJEU privacy and data protection rights override, “as a rule”, the public’s right to receive information. In addition, after the judgement it has become unclear whether search engine operators have a legal basis for indexing websites that contain special categories of data. We also discuss steps taken by Google to comply with the judgment.

Data protection, Freedom of expression, Grondrechten, intermediary liability, Privacy, right to be forgotten, search engines, Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Google Spain v. González: Did the Court forget about freedom of expression?}, author = {Zuiderveen Borgesius, F. and Kulk, S.}, url = {http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2491486}, year = {1030}, date = {2014-10-30}, journal = {European Journal of Risk Regulation}, number = {3}, abstract = {In this note we discuss the controversial judgment in Google Spain v. González of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Our focus is on the judgment’s implications for freedom of expression. First, the facts of the case and the CJEU’s judgment are summarised. We then argue that the CJEU did not give enough attention to the right to freedom of expression. By seeing a search engine operator as a controller regarding the processing of personal data on third party web pages, the CJEU assigns the operator the delicate task of balancing the fundamental rights at stake. However, such an operator may not be the most appropriate party to balance the rights of all involved parties, in particular in cases where such a balance is hard to strike. Furthermore, it is a departure from human rights doctrine that according to the CJEU privacy and data protection rights override, “as a rule”, the public’s right to receive information. In addition, after the judgement it has become unclear whether search engine operators have a legal basis for indexing websites that contain special categories of data. We also discuss steps taken by Google to comply with the judgment.}, keywords = {Data protection, Freedom of expression, Grondrechten, intermediary liability, Privacy, right to be forgotten, search engines, Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }