DPA case 10095553 – Complaint Upheld (Italy, 2024)

A data subject requested the delisting by Google LLC, the controller, of certain web addresses which referenced him. The web addresses consisted of reports about a historical criminal court case in which the data subject was acquitted. The data subject claimed that the listing of these web addresses caused damage to their personal and professional reputation, and in light of the time elapsed since the trial and the outcome of acquittal, they should be delisted. Although agreeing to delist some of the web addresses complained about, Google refused to delist others, claiming that some of the web addresses relate partly to an entirely different matter, and as such, should be considered in assessing the requirement of the passage of time. The data subject filed a complaint with the DPA. The DPA considered that in addition to the element of the passage of time, the other conditions for the establishment of the right to be forgotten, as outlined in the [https://www.edpb.europa.eu/our-work-tools/our-documents/guidelines/guidelines-52019-criteria-right-be-forgotten-search-engines_en EDPB Guidelines No. 5/2019 on the criteria of the Right to be Forgotten in the search engines cases under the GDPR], should be considered. The DPA found nine web addresses to be problematic. In respect of four of these web addresses, the DPA found that they contained outdated information about how the criminal case ended. In respect of another web address, the DPA found that the details about the data subject’s acquittal was not prominently displayed. In respect of two further web addresses, the DPA found that the reports misrepresented the circumstances of the criminal case and that the favourable outcome of the criminal trial was not mentioned. In respect of a further web address, the DPA held that an independent public interest did not exist to associate it with the name of the data subject. In respect of the final web address, the DPA held that the report did not mention the reason why