DPA case 103/2021 – Order (Belgium, 2021)

A data subject (the Complainant) requested a search engine provider to erase one or more links to web pages where his name was appearing. The search engine provider rejected the erasure request of the Complainant. The Complainant therefore filed a complaint with the Belgian DPA, but then decided to withdraw his complaint before the Belgian DPA had come to any conclusion. In its decision, the Belgian DPA first stated that the withdrawal of a complaint does not as such put an end to any potential violation of the GDPR, and therefore does not deprive the DPA from its competences to assess whether the reported facts constitute an infringement. The Belgian DPA noted in this respect that the control it exercises does not aim so much at settling disputes between parties, but rather at ensuring compliance with the data protection rules. In the present case, however, the Belgian DPA noted that the potential infringements of Article 17 GDPR by the search engine provider were inextricably linked to the willingness of the Complainant to exercise his right to erasure. Because the Complainant had informed the Belgian DPA of the fact that he longer wanted to exercise his right to erasure, the Belgian DPA thus concluded that the case had become moot. The Belgian DPA therefore closed the case without taking any further action.