By: Mayra Neimerck

 

We live in a digital age, where everyone has probably built some kind of online past, whether through social media postings, photos, newspaper articles or public documents. Recently, a number of celebrity nude photographs were released online. Most of these photos were obtained illegally but will circulate endlessly throughout the Internet. Many people have made efforts to remove information from the Internet but have been unsuccessful. In deference to the First Amendments, which guarantees freedom of speak and expression, the United States has long resisted a policy on data privacy. However, the European Union adopted a sweeping new privacy right, the right to be forgotten.

 

In 1998, a Spanish newspaper published an announcement that certain property owned by lawyer Mario Costeja Gonzalez was going to be auctioned to pay off his owed taxes. Eventually, Mr. Costeja cleared his debts but the newspaper record continued to surface whenever anyone Googled his name, causing him many professional problems. In 2010, Mr. Costeja turned to Spain’s national Data-Protection Agency to demand that the newspaper remove the item from its website and that Google remove the links from searches of his name. Mr. Costeja complained that the auction notice on Google’s search results infringed his privacy rights because the proceeding had already been resolved. The Spanish Data-Protection Agency denied the claim against the newspaper but granted the claim against Google. Ultimately, the European Court of Justice, which the New Yorker  describes, “as a kind of Supreme Court for all twenty-eight members of the European Union,” affirmed the Spanish agency’s decision that Google must remove links relating to Mr. Costeja’s name. The court added that all individuals in the European Union had the right to prohibit Google from linking certain items. Consequently, Google unveiled a system that enables citizens of the European Union to ask search engines to remove results from its listings. According to the New Yorker, “Google has fielded about a hundred and twenty thousand request for deletion and granted roughly half of them.”

 

Many wonder if Google should remove links from searches everywhere, and not just on its European sites. However, adopting a similar decision in the United States is inconsistent with U.S. law since Mr. Costeja’s records were public and accurately reflected in the Spanish newspaper. Under the First Amendment, the press has the right to publish accurate information obtained legally. Adopting similar legislation to the Right to be Forgotten creates a risk of misuse by those wanting to hide or suppress information of public importance. If such legislation is adopted, each request should undergo strict guidelines to prevent misuse of the system.

 

 

Bio: Mayra Neimerck is currently a 2L at Suffolk University Law School and a Staff Member of the Journal of High Technology Law. She holds a B.A in Crime and Justice from Suffolk University. Mayra speaks Portuguese fluently and is proficient in Spanish.