Romanian court judgment on the right to be forgotten from Google search engine under the GDPR

The request was filled in September 2019 with the Ploiesti Court of First Instance by a former prosecutor (“the Applicant”) against Google LLC and the Romanian Google subsidiary - Google Bucharest SRL – Romanian limited liability company (“the Defendants”). The Applicant requested the court:

a) to order the Defendants to immediately remove or block links or URLs from web pages containing information published and posted by third parties regarding criminal offences related to the Applicant, information that appears in the list of results displayed when searching on Google with the following keywords: the name and surname of the Applicant and their name and surname and the word “prosecutor”. This request is based on the right to be forgotten provided by the GDPR.

b) to order the Defendants to pay an amount of Lei 150,000 (around Eur 30,000) as non-material damages for harm to the Applicant’s reputation for the period starting with the initial notification of the Defendants and until the effective removal or blocking of the said search results.

Facts:

The Applicant notified Google Bucharest SRL, by registered mail, requesting that, within 30 days after receiving the notification, to remove all the materials available in the Google search engine as a result of using the following keywords: the name and surname of the Applicant and their name and surname and the word “prosecutor”.

Google Bucharest SRL responded to Applicant, informing that their request was forwarded to Google LLC, as Google Bucharest SRL does not manage the Google search services. The Applicant was also directed to address those responsible for managing the Google delisting by accessing a link, indicating the steps to be followed in order to remove the URLs from the search results under European law.

Subsequently, the Applicant addressed the Romanian Data Protection Authority (ANSPDCP). The DPA informed the Applicant that in this case the CJEU judgment on “Google Spain and INC v. AEPD and Mario Costeja González” (C-131/12) as well as the WP29 Guidelines on the implementation of the said judgment must be taken into consideration (“WP29 Guidelines”). The DPA further directed the Applicant to address Google LLC in accordance with the procedure and the means made available by this entity, requesting, based on their own situation, the removal from the search list of the URLs where their data is posted.

Decision of the Court (no. 669/14.02.2020):

Firstly, the court considers that the entity which has the obligation to respond to requests of data subjects on the basis of the right to be forgotten is the parent company (i.e. Google LLC) and not its national (Romanian) subsidiary. Therefore, the Court dismisses the case against the Romanian Google subsidiary for lack of passive capacity to stand trial.

The court notes that the WP29 Guidelines require the data subject to indicate the specific URLs that are requested to be removed. Therefore, it is found that the Applicant did not indicate to the Defendants minimum information regarding the URLs or the links requested to be removed. It is also noted that following a search on Google by the keywords "prosecutor” followed by the Applicant’s name and surname, the displayed results, in addition to the links that show articles regarding the Applicant's past, also include references to materials relating to other individuals with the same name as the Applicant.

Analysing the Applicant’s request addressed to Google, it is noted that the Applicant requested the deletion of all the materials displayed in the search engine following a search by these keywords: the name and surname of the Applicant and their name and surname and the word “prosecutor”. Thus, the request to remove all URLs that refer only to the name of the data subject or to their name and occupation appears unreasonable, given that a search by such parameters can generate tens of thousands of results, including results that are not related to the Applicant.

Although the Applicant was instructed by both the Romanian DPA and Google LLC to follow the procedures of the controller and to use the appropriate electronic forms, the Applicant did not follow such instructions. Therefore, it cannot be held that there is an abusive refusal to settle their application so as to justify the intervention of the court.

Google LLC's request to fill-in the electronic forms made available, indicating the specific URLs that are requested to be removed, cannot be interpreted as abusive or unreasonable, in the context in which a search on Google, by general criteria, can generate tens of thousands of results.

Therefore, in the absence of any evidence to show that the Applicant followed the procedures made available by Google LLC in order to settle his claim, and that Google LLC wrongly rejected the demand, the court dismissed the Applicant’s request.

Regarding the request for the award of non-material damages in the amount of Lei 150.000, the court noted that this is an accessory to the Applicant’s main demand on delisting from the search engine. As the court rejected the Applicant’s main demand, the court holds that an award of non-material damages is excluded, since, as it was shown, the Defendants did not refuse to resolve the Applicant’s request, so there is no wrongful act generating damages. In view of the above, the court dismissed the request for damages.

From the information available, the judgment appears to be final, as neither the Applicant nor the Defendants have filled an appeal.

The full text of the judgment is available in Romanian on www.rolii.ro.