// Netherlands · Right to be forgotten
Artist wins removal of fraudulent search results linked to closed academy
Rechtbank Amsterdam ·
ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2019:9271
The case
An artist requested Google to remove search results linking her name to social media posts about 'fraud' after her art academy closed and students didn't receive refunds. The court largely granted the request as the search results were excessive and referenced incorrect information, while no criminal prosecution had occurred.
What the court considered
- 01The court ruled that search results were excessive and irrelevant as they linked to social media posts containing incorrect information about 'fraud' without criminal prosecution
- 02AVROTROS had partially anonymized the applicant's name in their article, but Google's search results negated this effect by showing the full name
- 03Social media posts did not lead to relevant news publications but to unavailable content or other social media posts
- 04The applicant's privacy interest outweighed the public's information interest, as there were no special reasons for prioritizing freedom of information
- 05The request for automatic blocking of future similar links was rejected as insufficiently specified
What this means in practice
Companies and individuals can be more successful with right to be forgotten requests if they can demonstrate that search results refer to incorrect accusations without criminal legal basis, particularly when original publishers have already proceeded to anonymization. This ruling refines the application of the right to be forgotten by emphasizing that search results pointing to incorrect accusations without legal foundation can be considered excessive processing, even for individuals with some degree of public prominence.
Legal basis
- Artikel 17 lid 1 AVG
- Artikel 6 lid 1 onder f AVG
- Artikel 21 lid 1 AVG
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