Can I have information about me that is on the internet removed?

Can I have information about me that is on the internet removed?

It is unthinkable that you would not first be “googled” before receiving an invitation for a job interview, an introductory meeting with a new client, or even a date. Information on the internet that is inaccurate, outdated, or one-sided can result in not being invited to such a meeting, or having to explain yourself first.

In this article, I explain what you can do to have information that is on the internet removed.

What options are available?

There are roughly two options for having information removed. First, you can approach the relevant website with a request to remove or anonymise the information. In addition, you can submit a reasoned request to the major search engines to no longer display certain pages in the search results when a particular search term, such as your name, is used.

In practice, it is advisable to pursue both options in parallel. The assessment of a request by a search engine is a standardised procedure and usually proceeds relatively quickly (a few weeks). The removal of information from a website is sometimes processed within a single day, but sometimes requires legal proceedings and can take many months.

It remains of great importance to request the removal of the information at the source, even if a page has already been delisted from the search engines. Technological developments move quickly and are unpredictable; therefore, it is important to have the information removed at the source as well.

What are the rules on removing information from a website?

You cannot simply compel the owner of a website or a search engine to remove information. Certainly not if the information is factually correct — consider for instance a bankruptcy that occurred years ago. Yet in practice, this can constitute a considerable obstacle when starting a new business or obtaining financing.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), any person has the right to request the erasure of their personal data (Article 17 GDPR). This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’. The main grounds for this are:

• the personal data are no longer necessary for the purposes for which they were processed;
• the data subject withdraws previously given consent and there is no other legal basis for the processing;
• the data subject objects to the processing and there are no overriding compelling legitimate grounds for the processing; or
• the personal data have been unlawfully processed.

It frequently occurs that the owner of a website, when faced with such a request, invokes the so-called “journalistic exemption” laid down in Article 43 of the Dutch GDPR Implementation Act (Uitvoeringswet Algemene verordening gegevensbescherming, UAVG). There must then be a publication for exclusively journalistic purposes; a concept that, according to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), must be interpreted broadly. If this exemption applies, a number of rights that a data subject has under the GDPR, including the right to erasure, do not apply.

However, this does not mean that you have no legal remedy whatsoever against such a defence: you can turn to the courts, which will then carry out a balancing of interests: does the freedom of the press outweigh the infringement on the private life of the data subject?

How do I submit a removal request to a search engine?

You can submit a request to a search engine on the basis of Article 17 GDPR and case law of the CJEU to no longer display certain pages for a particular search query.

This can be done for the two largest search engines via the forms below. In the relevant form, you indicate which search terms and which pages are concerned. Pursuant to Article 12(3) GDPR, the search engine must in principle respond within one month.

• Google
• Bing

Incidentally, this right only applies within the European Union; in other words, if someone in the United States (or via a VPN) uses the American version of the search engine, the results are displayed unfiltered.

How do I submit a removal request to a website?

This depends on the circumstances of the case, such as which website is involved. It matters whether it is a national newspaper or a local neighbourhood blog. In many cases, it is worthwhile to send a brief email yourself to the owner of the website, explaining the inconvenience caused by the information available online and politely requesting that the information be removed or anonymised.

If that does not bear fruit, a formal demand letter from a lawyer may help, or even court proceedings such as summary proceedings (kort geding) if the matter is urgent.

A case from practice

On behalf of one of my clients, I have previously pursued the parallel approach described above. This client is an entrepreneur who had gone bankrupt with one of his businesses more than ten years ago. This bankruptcy was reported on various blogs and in local newspapers. The trustee’s bankruptcy reports were also still easily accessible. The client experienced considerable inconvenience from these publications, particularly because a new business was being set up.

On the one hand, I submitted requests to the major search engines to no longer display the reports about the bankruptcy when searching for the client’s name. On the other hand, I contacted all relevant websites with the request to remove or anonymise the information.

In almost all cases, sometimes after some insistence, the information was removed. In only one case were summary proceedings (kort geding) necessary to have the information removed. Although compliance with the claim for removal was given in the run-up to the hearing, we did not withdraw the case in order to request a costs order. This was granted, and the court elaborated on the balancing of interests regarding the removal of the data in its judgment, in favour of my client.