The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued a position recognizing the territorial limitation of the Right to Be Forgotten. The opinion was based on the lawsuit filed by CNIL (French Data Protection Regulatory Agency) against Google in 2015, in which the companys de-indexing of content was requested and the discussion about the territorial scope of the enforcement of the Right to Be Forgotten. In the lawsuit, CNIL argued that such de-indexing of research results should be performed on a global scale.
However, the CJEUs understanding was to limit the scope of application of the right to de-indexation to EU member countries, and to emphasize the importance of applying measures that effectively prevent or at least seriously discourage an Internet user from search for a data holders name to gain access through the list of search results displayed to the links that are the subject of this request. The basis used by the CJEU were the need to consider fundamental principles of privacy and freedom of information; the lack of an obligation for search engine operators to de-index information on all versions of the search engine; and the differences between the laws of each country. Moreover, the possibility of global deindexation has not been completely ruled out, as there is no legal prohibition on this practice either.
Learn more at: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/24/victory-for-google-in-landmark-right-to-be-forgotten-case
See the full decisions at: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=218106&text=&dir=&doclang=EN&part=1&occ=first&mode=DOC&pageIndex=0&cid=969167