France fines Google for failing to forget
France’s data-privacy authority announced today that it will impose a fine on Google for failing adequately to comply with the so-called “right to be forgotten.” (For background on the right to be forgotten and our views on the subject, see here and here.)
The Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL) has continued to insist that the company must “delist” – that is, remove any search-engine links anywhere in the world – information concerning any individual who has successfully invoked the European Court of Justice’s 2014 decision, which would suppress previously public information. Google’s parent company said it plans to appeal the decision to the courts.
We at R Street continue to support Google’s argument that a French regulator cannot, consistent with other nations’ sovereignty, insist that its interpretation of the ECJ decision must extend to the entire globe.
We continue to follow this issue closely because policymakers in Europe and elsewhere continue be shortsighted about the effect that suppressing previously published lawful news reports will have on freedom of inquiry worldwide.
