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// Netherlands · Right to be forgotten

Court denies murder suspect's bid to scrub Google search results

Gerechtshof Amsterdam ·

ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2015:1123

Read the ruling at rechtspraak.nl

The case

A man convicted of attempted solicitation of murder demanded that Google remove search results containing his name based on the 'right to be forgotten'. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal denied all claims, ruling that the public interest in information about serious crimes outweighs his privacy rights, especially since the case was recent and his appeal was still pending.

What the court considered

  • 01The public has a legitimate interest in accessing information about serious crimes and the prosecution of the appellant
  • 02The search results refer to websites containing only initials, so no certain connection is made to appellant's full identity
  • 03This concerns a recently committed serious crime for which appellant was convicted in first instance, with the appeal still pending
  • 04Google did not manually manipulate search results to harm appellant; the autocomplete function works automatically based on user behavior
  • 05Some claims were formulated too generally to be grantable

What this means in practice

Persons recently convicted of serious crimes cannot expect search results to be removed as long as there remains public interest. Companies such as Google are not required to intervene in automated search algorithms unless there is deliberate manipulation. This ruling demonstrates the limits of the 'right to be forgotten' in recent serious criminal cases and confirms that the public interest in information about crimes carries significant weight in the balancing of interests.

Legal basis

  • Richtlijn 95/46/EG (EU Privacyrichtlijn)
  • Artikel 7 en 8 Handvest van de grondrechten van de EU
  • Wet bescherming persoonsgegevens (artikel 36 en 40)
  • Arrest HvJ EU Google Spain/Costeja (C-131/12)
Right to be forgotten

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