In an age where information dissemination tends to be permanent in one’s life, the right to be forgotten is seen as one of the most significant concepts in law that enables a person to exercise proper control over his reality online. Thus, this right was born out of the traditional environment of privacy laws and sparked international debate on its perimeters and implications and clashes with other rights of equal importance, such as freedom of expression.
What Is The Right To Be Forgotten?
The Right to Be Forgotten also referred to as Right to Erasure means that an individual can make a claim for a specific deletion of personal data on online platforms and search engine results within specific conditions. Controversy so far attached to the notion reached the international arena by the landmark 2014 ruling of the European Court of Justice in the “Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD).” The court ruled that search engines “must” comply with requests for delisting facts that are “inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant, or excessive” while having a compelling public interest in keeping that information readily available.
Recognition Of The ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ In India
The concept of the Right to be forgotten has its reference in India in the context of privacy and digital rights. However, India does not have any specific statutory framework for the right to be forgotten. The ruling in the 2017 case of Justice K S Puttaswamy v. Union of India has recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental right within the Constitution, which implicitly recognizes the right to be forgotten. In Puttaswamy, the Court acknowledged the right to be forgotten, albeit with the caution that it could not be absolute. The Court further provided illustrations of instances when such right will not apply, being those concerning public interest, public health, archiving, research, or a legal claim. It states that the recognition of such a right will imply that an individual should be able to remove his or her data whenever they are proven no longer relevant or serve no legitimate purpose.
Legal Framework
- Information Technology Rules, 2021: Directs intermediaries to remove or disable access to content infringing privacy within 24 hours after complaint.
- Digital Protection of Personal Data Act, 2023: It enshrines the right to “erasure” under section 12, but with regard to court records and data available in public, the applicability of such laws becomes ambiguous within the court premises due to conflicting interpretations.
Legal Frameworks On ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ Across The Globe.
1. European Union
The right to be forgotten is discussed in Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, commonly referred to as the right to erasure. For the first time, this right gives the individual the ability to command the erasure of personal data when it is not necessary anymore in regard to the purposes for which it had been collected, and even when the individual has rescinded consent. There are some exceptions like those for rights under freedom of expression, compliance with obligations prescribed by law, or in the public interest.
2. United States
Contrary to the EU, there is no such federal law in the United States regarding an individual’s right to be forgotten. Legal framework in the U.S. stresses freedom of speech under the First Amendment; hence making removal of contents from the internet quite difficult. On the other hand, most states do have some specific laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which provides limited rights to allow an individual to request deletion of personal data.
Challenges Regarding ‘Right to Be Forgotten’
Right to be forgotten poses many intricate questions:
- Freedom of Expression against Privacy: It is argued that information removal can limit freedom of speech and knowledge from public access. Finding a middle ground between these conflicting rights is still contentious.
- Global Implementation: The borderless nature of the internet makes jurisdiction difficult. Should content be removed completely from all accessible regions worldwide or only within some?
- Technologically Possible: Technically, it will be a challenging task to carry out Right to be forgotten to filter specified results without depriving lawful information access to multiple users by search engines.
Why Should ‘right To Be Forgotten’ Be Implemented?
- Autonomy Over Personal Data: It should be an individual’s prerogative to dominate their private information and identity rights in today’s digital planet. Governments and private associations act as though they own powers over the privacy line by tracking and recording all activities done on their sites. There are many examples of private content hosted on the web without permission such as nude photos or the most secret details.
- The right to privacy: There can be no right to access private information that has been made public illegally. The right to be forgotten protects individuals from having to bear the consequences of wrongfully disclosed personal information.
Conclusion
At present, the “right to be forgotten” is slowly but surely assuming an important place with respect to the legal as well as technical aspects. Because of the complications inherent in technical matters, legal provisions are also expected to become very complex. “Right to be Forgotten,” now getting into the limelight, is viewed as having become increasingly more part of the right to privacy. The information concerned will have been taken as true, and therefore the right to free expression and publication could not, by “Right to Be Forgotten,” be overshadowed. In India, the debate continues as there is no specific provision in the law of the country for offering a “Right to be forgotten”. If anything, it still makes do with ad-hoc jurisprudence for making this right accessible.
