There has been a fair amount of comment about the recent European Court decision which effectively forces Google (and others, we must say) to delete personal data which may no longer be relevant.
The requirement to delete irrelevant personal data is just one consequence for Google of the decision which says that it is bound by the European Directive on Data Protection.
The English Court seems to have rubber stamped two others recently – sections 10 and 14 of the Data Protection Act1. The Court, in an interim decision, has intimated that Google will probably be obliged to prevent the processing of personal data which is inaccurate and/or causes substantial damage or distress, whether that be on websites which it hosts or through the search engine which it operates.
While the decision has yet to be made final, it will offer encouragement to individuals to request, and if necessary sue, Google (and other organisations) in order to remove abusive, defamatory or false allegations from the public domain and has the potential to have a similar impact to that of Gonzalez on the business of Google and other data controllers.
Footnote
1 See Hegglin -v- (1) Person(s) Unknown and (2) Google Inc [2014] EWHC 2808 (QB)
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