header-logo header-logo

Slipping the net

20 June 2014 / Dan Tench
Issue: 7611 / Categories: Features , Data protection , Freedom of Information
printer mail-detail

Dan Tench assesses the implications of the right to be forgotten ruling in Google Spain

It has become a regular aspect of modern life to use internet search engines to look for and collate biographical information relating to other people. The purpose of such searches can range from commercial interest to journalistic investigation to idle curiosity.

Search engines called into question

The judgment from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on 13 May in Google Spain [2014] EUECJ C-131/12 called into question the legality of European-established search engines collating personal information and then facilitating such searches.

The case arose after a complaint that was brought against Google (that is the Spanish subsidiary and the US parent company) by a Spanish man, Sr Mario Costeja González, to the Spanish Data Protection Authority, the AEPD. His complaint related to the continued availability of information regarding certain unpaid debts that was published in a newspaper in Spain in the late 1990s including in its online version (where it continued to be available). The

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll