Cunningham — Volume 65, Issue 3

The European Court of Justice's landmark ruling in Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos established a new "right to be forgotten," requiring Google and similar search engines to delete links to personal data deemed inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant. This right emerged from privacy concerns in the digital age, exemplified by the case of Mario Costeja, a Spanish lawyer whose old debt notice appeared in Google searches fifteen years after its publication. The article examines tensions between the right to be forgotten and fundamental free speech principles. While supporters argue it protects individual privacy in an era of permanent digital records, critics contend it enables censorship under the guise of privacy protection. The author traces the right's European origins and explores implementation challenges, including Google's experience processing over 715,000 deletion requests from Europeans. The article questions whether the right actually protects privacy or merely restricts access to truthful, public information—raising concerns about international implications for free expression, media publications, and the ability of search engines and websites to disseminate legitimate content.

Topics: Constitutional Law · First Amendment · International Law

Keywords: right to be forgotten · Google Spain SL · CJEU · search engine delisting · data protection · Mario Costeja · free expression · digital privacy