Google v González

Google Spain v AEPD and Mario Costeja González
European Court of Justice
Submitted 27 February 2012 Decided 13 May 2014
Full case name	Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (), Mario Costeja González
Case number	C-131/12
ECLI	ECLI:EU:C:2014:317
Case Type	Reference for a preliminary ruling
Chamber	Full chamber
Nationality of parties	Spanish
Procedural history	Reference of the Audiencia Nacional (Spain)
Ruling
An Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal data which appear on web pages published by third parties. An individual may request hyperlinks to be removed from the search engine's index.
Court composition
Judge-Rapporteur M. Ilešič
President V. Skouris
Judges K. Lenaerts L. Bay Larsen T. von Danwitz M. Safjan J. Malenovský E. Levits A. Ó Caoimh A. Arabadjiev M. Berger A. Prechal E. Jarašiūnas
Legislation affecting
Interprets Directive 95/46/EC
Keywords
Personal data – Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of such data Directive 95/46/EC – Articles 2, 4, 12 and 14 – Material and territorial scope Internet search engines – Processing of data contained on websites – Searching for, indexing and storage of such data – Responsibility of the operator of the search engine – Establishment on the territory of a Member State – Extent of that operator's obligations and of the data subject's rights Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Articles 7 and 8.

Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González (2014) is a decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It held that an Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing that it carries out of personal information which appears on web pages published by third parties.

The outcome of the ruling is that an Internet search engine must consider requests from individuals to remove links to freely accessible web pages resulting from a search on their name. Grounds for removal include cases where the search result(s) "appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant or excessive in the light of the time that had elapsed." If the search engine rejects the request, the individual may ask relevant authorities to consider the case. Under certain conditions, the search engine may be ordered to remove the links from search results.

The decision confirms a so-called right to be forgotten mooted in the proposed General Data Protection Regulation, due to take effect in late 2014, although the Court did not explicitly grant such a right, depending instead on the data subject's rights deriving from (respect for private and family life) and (protection of personal data) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In 1998 the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia published two announcements in its printed edition regarding the forced sale of properties arising from social security debts. The announcements were published on the order of the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and their purpose was to attract as many bidders as possible. A version of the edition was later made available on the web.

One of the properties described in the newspaper announcements belonged to Mario Costeja González, who was named in the announcements. In November 2009, Costeja contacted the newspaper to complain that when his name was entered in the Google search engine it led to the announcements. He asked that the data relating to him be removed, arguing that the forced sale had been concluded years before and was no longer relevant. The newspaper replied that erasing his data was not appropriate since the publication had been on the order of the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

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