// Netherlands · Right to be forgotten
Court Denies Real Estate Entrepreneurs' Bid to Remove 'Slumlord' Search Results
Rechtbank Noord-Nederland ·
ECLI:NL:RBNNE:2020:3897
The case
Two real estate entrepreneurs requested Google to remove search results linking to negative reporting about them, including articles about their election as 'Slumlord of the Year'. The court denied their requests because the public interest in warnings about their practices as landlords outweighs their privacy interests.
What the court considered
- 01The reporting serves an important warning function and is part of a societal debate about the rental housing sector
- 02Plaintiffs are public figures in the real estate market and must tolerate their conduct being discussed in the media
- 03The public interest in accessing the reporting outweighs plaintiffs' interest in removal
- 04Plaintiffs insufficiently substantiated that the publications contain inaccuracies, despite references to earlier proceedings
- 05The reporting primarily concerns their professional conduct as landlord/broker, limiting privacy intrusion
What this means in practice
For entrepreneurs in controversial sectors (such as rental businesses), it is more difficult to have negative search results removed. Companies must realize that their professional conduct receives less privacy protection. For journalists and media, this provides additional protection for warning-related reporting. This ruling clarifies the boundaries of the right to be forgotten for public figures active in socially controversial sectors. It emphasizes that the public interest in warning information carries significant weight in the balancing of interests.
Legal basis
- Artikel 17 AVG (recht op vergetelheid)
- Artikel 21 AVG (recht van bezwaar)
- Artikel 6 lid 1 sub f AVG (gerechtvaardigd belang)
- Artikel 11 Handvest EU (vrijheid van meningsuiting en informatie)
- Artikelen 7 en 8 Handvest EU (privéleven en gegevensbescherming)
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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