Google Spain and Google: Not to be forgotten!

Abstract

In retrospect, the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of May 2014 in Google Spain SL and Google Inc. (Case C-131/12) appears to have been a turning point in the evolution of internet law. The Court found that internet search engine service providers are "data controllers" bound by Union data protection legislation, which confers on data subjects the right to de-reference links leading to pages including their personal data ("the right to be forgotten"). The search engine service provider is obliged to remove all search results initiated by using the data subject's name as a search term, and any links to pages containing information relating to the data subject, if this information is or has become inadequate, irrelevant or excessive. This right is not absolute, as it is limited by the fundamental rights of internet users. These boundaries were later clarified in the judgment in GC and others v CNI (Case C-136/17), of September 2019. Many legal issues of internet law stem from the detachment of this network from territoriality. The fact that internet search engine operators are liable under Union law requires EU law to be applicable to them in the first place. In Google Spain and Google, the Court found that Union data protection law was applicable to Google. A further issue, namely the consequences of Union law being applicable in terms of the territorial scope of a search engine operators' obligations, was at stake as a follow-up question in the judgment Google v CNIL (Case C 507/17) of September 2019 (the Google France judgment). The present contribution describes and discusses this line of case law.