The operator of a search engine must systematically grant requests to remove links to sensitive data while ensuring that rights to information access and freedom of expression are protected, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar said in his Opinion delivered on Thursday 10 January (Case C-136/17).
In France, several natural persons have filed an application with the Conseil d’État after the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) refused to order the removal of links included in the list of results displayed following a search of their names using the Google search engine.
The Internet pages in question contain a satirical photomontage of a female politician posted under a pseudonym, an article mentioning the position of public relations officer for the Church of Scientology of one of the interested parties, the indictment of a politician and the conviction for sexual assault on a minor of another interested party.
The Conseil d’État asked the EU Court of Justice to interpret the Directive (95/46) on the protection of personal data applicable in this case.
According to Mr Szpunar, the prohibitions and restrictions laid down by the Directive cannot apply to a search engine operator as if it had itself published the sensitive data online. They therefore only apply to a search engine with regard to these links and, therefore, to verification after the fact, when a request for removal of the links is made by the person in question.
When asked whether a search engine is required to remove links systematically, the Advocate General pointed out that the Directive prohibits the processing of sensitive data. The search engine must systematically investigate requests to remove links to Internet pages containing such data, subject to the exceptions provided for in European legislation.
Mr Szpunar also proposed that the Court reply that a search engine operator must, when considering a request to remove sensitive data, balance the rights to privacy and data protection against the right to access the information in question and to freedom of expression.
With regard to incomplete or obsolete press articles, the Advocate General pointed out that the same balancing should be carried out, while stressing the additional need to take into account that this type of information is journalistic or may constitute artistic or literary expression. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)