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03/02/2020 CURIA - Documents JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber) 13 May 2014 (*) (Personal data — Protection of individuals with regard to the processing of such data — Directive 95/46/EC — Articles 2, 4, 12 and 14 — Material and territorial scope — Internet search engines — Processing of data contained on websites — Searching for, indexing and storage of such data — Responsibility of the operator of the search engine — Establishment on the territory of a Member State — Extent of that operator’s obligations and of the data subject’s rights — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Articles 7 and 8) In Case C-131/12, REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Audiencia Nacional (Spain), made by decision of 27 February 2012, received at the Court on 9 March 2012, in the proceedings Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), Mario Costeja González, THE COURT (Grand Chamber), composed of V. Skouris, President, K. Lenaerts, Vice-President, M. Ilešič (Rapporteur), L. Bay Larsen, T. von Danwitz, M. Safjan, Presidents of Chambers, J. Malenovský, E. Levits, A. Ó Caoimh, A. Arabadjiev, M. Berger, A. Prechal and E. Jarašiūnas Judges, Advocate General: N. Jääskinen, Registrar: M. Ferreira, Principal Administrator, having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 26 February 2013, after considering the observations submitted on behalf of: – Google Spain SL and Google Inc., by F. González Díaz, J. Baño Fos and B. Holles, abogados, – Mr Costeja González, by J. Muñoz Rodríguez, abogado, – the Spanish Government, by A. Rubio González, acting as Agent, – the Greek Government, by E.-M. Mamouna and K. Boskovits, acting as Agents, – the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and P. Gentili, avvocato dello Stato, – the Austrian Government, by G. Kunnert and C. Pesendorfer, acting as Agents, – the Polish Government, by B. Majczyna and M. Szpunar, acting as Agents, – the European Commission, by I. Martínez del Peral and B. Martenczuk, acting as Agents, after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 25 June 2013, curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document_print.jsf?doclang=EN&text=&pageIndex=0&part=1&mode=DOC&docid=152065&occ=ﬁrst&dir=&cid=667631 1/19

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Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos

Case Law

Country

Spain

Country Location

Latitude: 40.17158238163279

Longitude: -3.6606463193890733

Country Location (linked Case Law): Spain

Decision Date: May 13, 2014

Case Status: Closed

Case Outcome (Procedural)

Remanded for Decision in Accordance with Ruling

Case Outcome (Disposition)

Advisory Opinion/Preliminary Ruling

Keywords

Data Protection and Retention
Privacy
Right to be Forgotten
Search Engines

Case Number: Case C-131/12

Case Summary: In March 2010, Spanish national Costeja González brought a complaint before the country’s Data Protection Agency against La Vanguardia newspaper, Google Spain, and Google Inc. González wanted the newspaper to remove or alter the record of his 1998 attachment and garnishment proceedings so that the information would no longer be available through Internet search engines. He also requested Google Inc. or its subsidiary, Google Spain, to remove or conceal the data. González argued that the proceedings had been fully resolved for several years and therefore they should no longer appear online. The Agency dismissed the complaint against the newspaper on the ground that the publication was legally justified pursuant to a government order. It, however, upheld the complaint against Google, finding that Internet search engines are also subject to data protection laws and must take necessary steps to protect personal information. On appeal, the National High Court of Spain stayed the proceedings and presented a number of questions to the European Court of Justice concerning the applicability of the EU Directive 95/46 (protection of personal data) to the Internet search engines. The Court ruled that a search engine is regarded as a “controller” with respect to “processing” of personal data through its act of locating, indexing, storing, and disseminating such information. Additionally, it held that in order to guarantee the rights of privacy and the protection of personal data, operators of search engines can be required to remove personal information published by third party websites. But the data subject’s right to make that request must be balanced against the interest of the general public to access his or her personal information.

Case Significance: The decision establishes a binding or persuasive precedent within its jurisdiction.

Source URL: Columbia Global Freedom of Expression

Primary Documents

Google Spain v AEPD and Gonzalez.pdf
English
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