The Long Reach of Europe’s Right to Be Forgotten

The so-called “right to be forgotten” has been the subject of much debate and attention since the publication of the Costeja v. Google opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union in May of 2014. The CJEU held that, under certain conditions, a European citizen has the right to demand that a search engine remove links to information pertaining to him or her if that information is “inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive” – a definition that may include information that is truthful. Francoise Gilbert from the IT Law Group looks at the fallout from this case and similar case that have been brought in Asia and the Americas, and why it is significant for businesses world-wide.