An example of Romanian case law on the digital right to be forgotten

• Author: Silviu-Dorin Schiopu
• Position: Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 175-180

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşo v

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 11 (60) No. 1 - 2018

AN EXAMPLE OF ROMANIAN CASE LAW ON THE

DIGITAL RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN

Silviu-Dorin ȘCHIOPU1

Abstract: After CJEU’s decision in the case C

‑

131/12, Google Spain and

Inc., the national courts of the Member States have begun to rule on

litigations on the digital right to be forgotten. Romanian courts were no

exception regarding this new right of the data subjects. As such, this article

aims to provide an example of the Romanian case law which involves a data

subject who played a role in public life and the information in question was

at the boundary between public and private life. In these circumstances, the

Court has concluded that for its decision two aspects are essential, namely if

the data is accurate and has actual relevance, and based the ruling on their

analysis. This ruling might not be the most relevant one but it offers a

glimpse into the Romanian case law on the digital right to be forgotten.

Key words: data protection, right to be forgotten, right to digital oblivion,

right to be delisted, right to de-indexing, Directive 95/46/EC.

1. Introduction

The right to be forgotten is inferred by interpretation from the right of the individual to

privacy, which in its turn finds its consecration in the internatio nal conventions [art. 8

paragraph (1) European Convention on Human Rights], The Charter of Fundamental

Rights of the EU (art. 7), constitutions [e.g. art. 26 paragraph (1) of the Romanian

Constitution], etc., at the level of the European Union, the digital right to be forgotten

(the right to digital oblivion) being an praetorian creation of the Court of Justice of the

European Union (CJEU), which it later retrieved its consecration in a secondary law of

the EU with direct effect, namely the General Data Protection Regulation which shall

apply from 25 May 2018.

In the case C-131/12 - Google Spain and Google, CJEU decided that the Dir ective

95/46/EC of October 24th 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the

processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (transposed into

national law by Law no. 677 of 21st of November 2001 on the Protection of Individuals

with Regard to the Processing of personal Data and the Free Movement of Such Data)

must be interpreted in the sense that „the operator of a search engine is obliged to

remove from the list of results displayed following a search made on the basis of a

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, dorinxschiopu@gmail.com, silviu-dorin.schiopu@unit bv.ro