Right to be Forgotten: A Critique of the Post-Costeja Gonzalez Paradigm

The article examines the right to be forgotten after the European Court of Justice’s ruling in Google Spain v AEPD and Costeja González (C-131/12), which brought search engines within the reach of the right.

It argues that the ruling left the balancing of privacy against public interest to a private company: ‘The Costeja González ruling effectively makes Google the judge of what is to be considered forgettable and what is not.’

It proposes instead that ‘A specialised neutral independent body should be established nationally and, if needed, internationally, empowered with the authority to regulate and monitor the implementation of the RTBF, and decide cases of removal requests on the basis of their individual merits.’