Google does not have to remove links to sensitive personal data globally, Europe’s top court has ruled in a landmark case that pits privacy rights against the right of free speech.
The ruling centers on Google’s dispute with France’s privacy watchdog, CNIL, which in 2015 told Google to delist information from internet search results globally upon request, in what is called the “right to be forgotten”.
CNIL fined Google €100,000 (£88,000) because it refused to comply. Google challenged the ruling at France’s council of state, which turned to the European court of justice for guidance.
The right to be forgotten enables claimants to request the removal of links to irrelevant or outdated online information about them. Tuesday’s ruling means that when Google receives an appropriate request it needs only to remove references to online material from its search results in Europe, and not elsewhere.
“Currently, there is no obligation under EU law, for a search engine operator who grants a request for de-referencing made by a data subject… to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine,” the ECJ said.
“However, EU law requires a search engine operator to carry out such a de-referencing on the versions of its search engine corresponding to all the [EU] member states,” it added.
The ECJ established the right to be forgotten in a landmark 2014 ruling relating to a Spanish citizen’s claim against material about him found on Google searches.
Google won the backing of the ECJ court adviser Maciej Szpunar earlier this year, who said the right to be forgotten should only be enforced in Europe and not globally. Judges follow such non-binding opinions in four out of five cases.
A Google report showed it removed 45% of the 3.3m links from 845,501 requests received in the last five years since the ECJ enshrined the right to be forgotten in Europe in 2014.
The world’s most popular internet search engine has previously warned of the dangers of over-reach by Europe. In a blogpost two years ago, the company said there should be a balance between sensitive personal data and the public interest and that no one country should be able to impose its rules on citizens of another.
The French council of state also asked for advice after CNIL decided not to order Google to remove links from internet search results based on the names of four individuals.
These included a satirical photomontage of a female politician, an article referring to someone as a public relations officer of the Church of Scientology, the placing under investigation of a male politician and the conviction of someone for sexual assaults against minors.
“Since 2014, we’ve worked hard to implement the right to be forgotten in Europe, and to strike a sensible balance between people’s rights of access to information and privacy. It’s good to see that the court agreed with our arguments …,” Google said in a statement after the ruling.
