With the EU’s GDPR set to take effect in May, the Right to be Forgotten is of major importance.

One of the central tenants of the EU’s incoming Gdpr is ‘the right to be Forgotten.’ This is a concept that was given precedent by the Luxembourg-based Court of European Justice back in 2014.

In the case in question, a Spaniard named Mario Costeja Gonzalez claimed that news coverage of a 1998 auction continued to damage his reputation. Gonzalez had come under some financial hardship towards the end of the 90’s and was forced to place one of his properties up for auction. This attracted the attention of a local newspaper whose coverage ended up going online.

By the time the court in Luxembourg heard the case, 16 years had passed and Gonzalez had moved beyond his woes, but anybody who searched his name was immediately greeted with this story about his financial hardships. He argued that this tarnished his reputation and as such, the content should be removed from Google’s search results.

The court agreed with him, thus establishing a precedent that would be used in the EU’s GDPR.

The post What is the Right to be Forgotten? appeared first on Hashed Out by The SSL Store™.