// Netherlands · Right to be forgotten
Lawyer wins right to remove criminal conviction from Google search results
Rechtbank Rotterdam ·
ECLI:NL:RBROT:2016:2395
The case
A lawyer sought removal of search results linking to his 2012 criminal conviction for weapons possession. The court granted the request because Google was processing criminal personal data in violation of the law and because the applicant's criminal record was now considered 'spent' under foreign legislation.
What the court considered
- 01Google Inc. processed criminal personal data in violation of the prohibition in Article 16 of the Dutch Data Protection Act, without any applicable exception
- 02The balancing of interests favored the applicant because his criminal record was considered 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
- 03The applicant did not play such a public role that the societal interest outweighed his privacy interest
- 04The data processing continued longer than necessary and was therefore incompatible with the privacy directive
What this means in practice
Search engines must exercise extra caution when handling removal requests concerning criminal data. Persons with expunged criminal records have good chances of successful removal. The ruling is not limited to local versions of search engines. This ruling demonstrates how Dutch courts apply the prohibition on processing criminal personal data to search engines and how foreign spent conviction schemes are recognized in the context of the right to be forgotten.
Legal basis
- Artikel 16 Wbp (verbod strafrechtelijke gegevens)
- Artikel 8 sub f Wbp (legitiem belang)
- Artikel 36 Wbp (kwaliteitseisen)
- Artikel 40 Wbp (bezwaar tegen verwerking)
- Artikelen 7 en 8 EU Handvest (privacy 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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