Google Belgium SA – €600,000 Fine (Belgium, 2020)
General GDPR enforcement action
This case relates to broader data protection obligations, not specifically to cookie or consent banner compliance. It is not included in cookie statistics or the Risk Calculator.
Google Belgium was fined €600,000 for not properly handling requests to remove outdated and damaging articles. The company failed to justify its refusal to delete these articles, which affected individuals' reputations. This case underscores the importance of transparency and respecting individuals' rights to have information removed.
What happened
Google Belgium refused to remove outdated articles damaging to individuals' reputations without sufficient justification.
Who was affected
Individuals, including those holding political office, who requested the removal of outdated and harmful articles.
What the authority found
The Belgian authority ruled that Google violated GDPR by failing to respect individuals' rights to have personal data erased and by lacking transparency in their refusal process.
Why this matters
This decision highlights the responsibility of companies to handle data removal requests transparently and fairly. It sets a precedent for how tech companies should manage 'right to be forgotten' claims, especially for public figures.
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The Belgian data protection authority has fined Google Belgium SA, a subsidiary of Google, 600,000 euros. The reasons for the fine were the rejection of an application by a data subject for dereferencing outdated articles that the data subject had considered to be damaging to its reputation, and lack of transparency in Google's form for dereferencing applications. The Belgian data protection authority found that articles relating to unfounded harassment complaints could have serious consequences for the data subjects, and natural persons were therefore entitled to have articles deleted/dereferenced. This also applies to persons who hold political office, even though these offices are generally less worthy of protection due to their public status and articles relating to political persons may therefore be stored for a longer period of time. Google's rejection of the application was therefore in breach of Article 17 of the GDPR (fine for this breach: €500,000). In addition, a further €100,000 was imposed for breach of the principle of transparency, as Google's rejection of the request for deletion was not sufficiently justified
Related Enforcement Actions (0)
No other enforcement actions found for Google Belgium SA in BE
This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
Fine Date
14 July 2020
Authority
Autorité de Protection des Données
Fine Amount
€600,000
Enforcement Tracker ID
ETid-344
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Google Belgium SA - Belgium (2020). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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