// Netherlands · Right to be forgotten
Court Blocks Real Estate Investor's Bid to Hide Criminal Suspicion Search Results
Rechtbank Amsterdam ·
ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2018:2979
The case
A real estate investor demanded Google remove search results about criminal suspicions related to an inheritance matter. The court denied the claim because the public interest in this information outweighed the applicant's privacy rights, as he was considered a 'public figure'.
What the court considered
- 01The public has a significant interest in information about business-related suspicions against the applicant, especially for potential business partners
- 02The publications were accurate, recent (2014/2016) and complete at time of publication, and criminal prosecution is still possible
- 03Applicant plays a role in public life as real estate investor (interviews, Quote 500 list) and qualifies as a 'public figure'
- 04The URLs are the only search results about criminal and tax-related suspicions - removal would create an unbalanced picture
- 05The public interest outweighs the negative consequences for applicant's business and private life
What this means in practice
For companies and individuals with any public role, it becomes more difficult to have negative but accurate reporting removed. Search engines can invoke the public interest and their social function when refusing removal requests. This judgment clarifies the boundaries of the 'right to be forgotten' for public figures and confirms that search engines have an essential social function that cannot be categorically restricted by the prohibition on processing criminal data.
Legal basis
- Artikel 16 Wbp
- Artikel 36 Wbp
- Artikel 40 Wbp
- Artikel 7 en 8 Handvest Grondrechten EU
- HvJEU Costeja-arrest (C-131/12)
Related rulings
- French top court: naming person in article on criminal conviction may standFrance · 3 June 2026
- Dutch real estate entrepreneur loses bid to remove criminal conviction article from Google search resultsNetherlands · 28 August 2025
- Google Defeats Legal Firm's Search Ranking Complaint Over Casino TermsNetherlands · 28 May 2025
- Court Denies Wealthy Heir's Bid to Scrub Criminal Past From Google Search ResultsNetherlands · 26 March 2024
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