The Constitutional extends the 'right to be forgotten' to the proper names of digital newspaper archives


The Constitutional extends the 'right to be forgotten' to the proper names of digital newspaper archives



Defends that "the prohibition of indexing personal data for use by the internal search engine must be limited, appropriate, necessary and proportionate in order to avoid dissemination of the news of the rights invoked"




The First Chamber of the Constitutional Court (TC) has pronounced for the first time on the so-called 'right to oblivion' and has estimated the remedy of amparo filed by two citizens tried in the 80s for drug trafficking that violate their rights to honor , privacy and data protection for the use of Internet technologies, by appearing their names and surnames in the search engines of a newspaper library in its digital version.

The sentence, whose speaker has been the magistrate Maria Luisa Balaguer, argues that "the prohibition of indexing personal data, specifically the names and surnames of the recurrent persons, for use by the internal search engine of the newspaper El País must to be limited, suitable, necessary and proportionate in order to avoid dissemination of the news of the rights invoked ".

The Court considers the remedy of amparo filed against the sentence handed down by the Supreme Court on October 15, 2015, which recognized the right to digital oblivion of persons prosecuted for involvement in a case of drug trafficking and consumption in the 1980s.

The Civil Chamber rejected the origin of removing the names and surnames of the information collected in the newspaper library or that the personal data contained in the information can not be indexed by the internal search engine of the newspaper library, since it considered that these measures were a restriction excessive freedom of information linked to the existence of digital newspaper archives.

The object of the appeal is contracted, according to the amparo judgment, to the analysis of the contrast between the constitutional precepts regulated in article 18.4 of the Constitution, in relation to the guarantee of the right to honor, and to the privacy of the persons (article 18.1 of the Magna Carta).

Modulate the right to information

In this sense, the TC points out that it is true that "freedom of information is not only a fundamental right of each person but also a guarantee of the formation and existence of a free and plural public opinion, capable of adopting political decisions through exercise of the rights of participation ", but this right is not absolute, but must be modulated by two elements.

One of these elements of modulation of the right is the passage of time when calibrating the impact of the dissemination of a news about the right to privacy of the owner of that right, and two, the importance of the digitalization of informative documents , to facilitate access to information for all Internet users.

The ruling explains that in these cases "the prevalence of the right to information about the right to privacy of a person who, after a lapse of time, chooses to request that these data and information, which may have public relevance, could be questioned.

in their day, be forgotten ». For the Court, "the universalization of access to newspaper archives, such as the universalization of access to information through search engines, multiplies the interference in the rights to information self-determination and the privacy of citizens."

In the resolution of this conflict it is necessary to take into account the balance between the informative freedoms and the right to informative self-determination, where the effect of the passing of time on the function played by the media plays an important role, and on the double dimension (informative or investigating) of that function.

The ruling concludes stating that it should be taken into account that the internal search engines of the websites fulfill the function of allowing the discovery and disclosure of the news and that this function is guaranteed even if the possibility of carrying out the search is eliminated by going to the name and last names of the people in question, which have no public relevance.

Therefore, "it will always be possible if there is a research purpose in the search for information away from the mere journalistic interest of the person being investigated, to locate the news through a thematic, temporal, geographical search or any other type of search". Therefore, the personal data of the applicants of the amparo are not necessary, which add nothing to the interest of the news, just the initials of the name and surnames.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Year one post roaming

Image
                               Year one post roaming What do you need to know in order not to overpay if you travel in Europe? Far is left when one stepped on Paris or Berlin and looked for places to connect to the wifi to share with friends the photos of the trip. It has been a year since the technology frontiers in Europe have fallen and now any citizen can use the mobile networks of any country in the Old Continent - including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - at no extra cost. Goodbye surprises at the time of arrival of the days of rest for an excess in the bill of the mobile. A measure that, with the value of technology today, has been almost as important as the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which gave the green light to the free movement of people in the Schengen area. Like any rule, it had a small print that it still maintains . On the ...
Read more

Keys to the new government tax that big technology does not like

Image
Keys to the new government tax that big technology does not like It is still unknown how much will be collected but the law will be processed "imminently", although some multinationals have already complained Amazon, Facebook, Google or Twitter have in common that their fundamental business is based on the sale of advertising 'online', in the intermediary activities of digital platforms or in the commercialization of data that is generated with information provided with the user. Therefore, these companies -among others- will pay in Spain the new tax on technological platforms promoted by the Montero cabinet. These are the three assumptions that the finance minister detailed as the bases on which the "imminent" rate for digital services would be based. Although he placed special emphasis on his first appearance before the Finance Committee in Congress where this newly created tax "will not affect SMEs or medium-sized companies", the...
Read more

The EU launches the first European regulation for the flight of drones

Image
The EU launches the first European regulation for the flight of drones The aim is for flights to be "safe" even when the sky is "busiest" | So far, appliances of less than 150 kg are regulated by national authorities The Council of the European Union has approved on Tuesday the first legislation that regulates drone flight in the EU in order to "make it more competitive" and introduce measures to ensure the safety of citizens. "These rules will ensure that flights are safe even when our skies are more and more traveled," said Bulgarian Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski, on behalf of the country that represents the Council this semester, after learning of the agreement reached in Luxembourg. It will enter into force this summer once it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. So far, drones under 150 kilos are regulated by national authorities, leaving manufacturers and operators at the expense of different design and safety requirements....
Read more