Data protection: BGH rules on the “right to be forgotten” on the Internet

data protection
BGH rules on the “right to be forgotten” on the Internet

When do Google users have a right to be forgotten? The Federal Court of Justice dealt with this question. photo

© Uli Deck/dpa

You can always find old stories online – regardless of whether they are true. This can be uncomfortable for those affected. The BGH has now decided when search engine operators must delete the hits.

According to a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), search engines such as Google only have to delete questionable articles about people from their hit lists if those affected can provide sufficient evidence of obviously incorrect information. The operators are not obliged to investigate this themselves and to approach those affected. That was decided by the sixth civil senate at the BGH on Tuesday. The Karlsruhe judges based their decision on a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

In this specific case, it was about a couple from the financial services industry. The plaintiffs wanted several critical articles about their investment model to stop appearing as hits when you search Google by their names. However, the BGH only agreed that no photos with them without any context may be displayed in the hit lists – so-called preview images.

dpa

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