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ABSTRACT
On 8 December 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a judgment in case TU, RE v Google (C-460/20) as a step forward in shaping the right to de-referencing. After an overview of the previous CJEU’s case-law on the right to de-referencing, the present note gives insights into the findings of the CJEU regarding both the de-referencing of allegedly inaccurate content by the search engine operators, and the de-referencing of photographs displayed in the form of thumbnails. Regarding the dereferencing of online content, the CJEU held that such dereferencing must be granted when the data subject proves a manifest inaccuracy without the need for a judicial decision. As for the dereferencing of thumbnails, their informative value should be taken into account regardless of the original context of their publication.
Acknowledgment
Special thank goes to Dr. Simon Sneddon for proofreading this manuscript and for his constructive feedback on this note.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Case C-131/12 Google Inc Spain SL and Google Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos (AEPD) and Mario Costeja Gonzales [2014], ECLI:EU:C:2014:317 [hereinafter Google Spain]; to read more about this case, see inter alia, Eleni Frantziou, ‘Further Developments in the Right to be Forgotten: The European Court of Justice's Judgment in Case C-131/12, Google Spain, SL, Google Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos’ (2014) 14 HRLRev 761; Ioannis Iglezakis, ‘The Right to Be Forgotten in the Google Spain Case (Case C-131/12): A Clear Victory for Data Protection or an Obstacle for the Internet?’ (2014) https://ssrn.com/abstract=2472323 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2472323 accessed 18 February 2023; Miquel Peguera, ‘In the aftermath of Google Spain: how the ‘right to be forgotten’ is being shaped in Spain by courts and the Data Protection Authority’ (2015) 23 International Journal of Law and Information Technology 325; Spahiu, Irma, ‘Case Note: Google Spain and Google’ (2015) 21 EPL 691.
2 Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) [2016] OJ L 119/1.
3 Case C-507/17 Google LLC v Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) (Grand Chamber) [2019], ECLI:EU:C:2019:772; for an overview of commentary on this case, see, inter alia, Wojciech Lamik, ‘Advancement of the Right to Be Forgotten-Analysis of the Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 24 September 2019 in the Case of Google LLC versus Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL)-C-507/17’ (2020) European Journal of Privacy Law & Technologies 113; Jure Globocnik, ‘The right to be forgotten is taking shape: CJEU judgments in GC and others (C-136/17) and Google v CNIL (C-507/17)’ (2020) 69 GRUR International 380; Monika Zalnieriute, ‘Google LLC v. Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes (CNIL)’ (2020) 114 American Journal of International Law 261; Tu Huynh, ‘Google LLC v Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL): Does Everyone Have to Listen to the European Union?’ (2019) 28 Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law 359; Fabrice Mattatia, ‘La CJUE précise l'étendue et les modalités du droit au déréférencement sur les moteurs de recherche’ (2019) 51 JCP A 9; Fabio Balducci Romano, ‘La Corte di giustizia 'resetta' il diritto all'oblio’ (2020) 3 federalismi.it 31.
4 Case C-136/17, GC and Others v Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL) (Grand Chamber) [2019], ECLI:EU:C:2019:773 ; for commentary, see, inter alia, Silvia De Conca, ‘GC et al v CNIL: Balancing the right to be forgotten with the freedom of information, the duties of a search engine operator (C-136/17 GC et al v CNIL)’ (2019) 5 European Data Protection Law Review 561; Thibault Douville, ‘Les variations du droit au déréférencement’ (2020) 9 Recueil Dalloz 515; Nicolas Marinov et Marc Isgour, ‘Le droit au déréférencement dans la jurisprudence (récente) de la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne’ (2020) 1–2 R.D.T.I 173.
5 Case C-460/20, TU, RE v Google [2022], ECLI:EU:C:2022:962.
6 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the European Union [2012] OJ C 326/02.
7 Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data.
8 ibid [28].
9 ibid [33].
10 ibid [58].
11 ibid [99].
12 ibid [81].
13 CNIL. 2016. ‘Deliberation n. 2016–054 of 10 March 2016’<https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/cnil/id/CNILTEXT000032291946/> accessed 26 March 2023.
14 Mme C, M.F, M.H, M.D v CNIL [2017] ECLI:FR: CEASS:2017:391000.20170224.
15 Google LLC v CNIL, [73].
16 ibid [62].
17 ibid [72].
18 ibid.
19 GC and Others v CNIL, [43].
20 ibid [45].
21 ibid [46].
22 ibid [47].
23 TU, RE v Google, [49].
24 ibid [51].
25 ibid [56-62].
26 ibid [65].
27 ibid [70].
28 ibid [71].
29 ibid [68].
30 ibid [75].
31 ibid [76].
32 ibid [93].
33 Von Hannover v Germany App no 40660/08 (ECtHR, 7 February 2012).
34 TU, RE v Google [100].
35 ibid [97].
36 ibid [101].
37 ibid [106].
38 ibid [107].
39 For an overview about the statistics of dereferencing requests received by Google Spain, please see https://transparencyreport.google.com/eu-privacy/overview
40 Christopher Kuner, 'The Court of Justice of the EU Judgment on Data Protection and Internet Search Engines: Current Issues and Future Challenges' in Burkhard Hess and Cristina M. Mariottini (eds), Protecting Privacy in Private International and Procedural Law and by Data Protection (Nomos 2015); Maria Tzanou, ‘The unexpected consequences of the EU Right to Be Forgotten: Internet search engines as fundamental rights adjudicators’ in Personal Data Protection and Legal Developments in the European Union (IGI Global 2020).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Laroussi Chemlali
Dr. Laroussi Chemlali is an Assistant Professor in Law. He earned his PhD in Law from the Université Paris-Est Créteil. His research focuses on Privacy Law, E-commerce Law, and IP/IT Law.
Leila Benseddik
Dr. Leila Benseddik is an Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics, with particular interest in Legal English and Legal Studies. Leila earned her PhD from the University of Northampton.