Is there a right for the personal data included in the companies register to be forgotten? European legislation does not provide for such a right and rightly so, replied Advocate General Yves Bot, when presenting his conclusions to the Court of Justice of the EU on Thursday 8 September.
This case (C-398/15), which was put before the Court of Justice by the Italian Court of Cassation, looks at this issue with regard to two European directives. The first of these concerns the treatment of personal data (Directive 95/46) and the second relates to guarantees required of companies (Directive 68/151).
Bot found that both of these directives stood against the right to be forgotten for data of this kind. These data should not be deleted, made anonymous, blocked or made accessible only to a limited number of third parties after a certain period of time and by request of the person concerned.
He explained that this solution was necessary in order to guarantee an appropriate degree of transparency and legal security on the market, including for companies which have ceased trading, possibly even for several decades. These data represent vital information on companies and constitute a reliable source of information to ensure the necessary legal security for the protection of the interests of third parties and the fairness of commercial transactions, he said.
He concluded with the following consideration: when they enter the market by setting up a commercial company, entrepreneurs are fully aware that their data will be included on the companies register, which is public by its very nature, and that they will be available irrespective of any twists and turns in the life of their company. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)