De Tijd – Dismissed (Belgium, 2022)

The controller is media outlet De Tijd. The data subject had an electric scooter business that was acquired by another company in 2018. The controller published an article about the data subject and his (previous) business, which is now in its online archives. The data subject asked the controller to anonymize the article. The controller refused. On 23 March 2021, the data subject submitted a request for mediation to the DPA about the controller's refusal to honor their right to be forgotten. The data subject stated that the article had a negative connotation (even after a revision of inaccuracies at their request). Furthermore, the article would pop up when you searched their same on a search engine, which hurt their professional career. The controller stated that it is not obligated to remove or anonymize the article, based on the freedom of expression and the integrity of media archives. As for the negative connotation, it followed that the way an article is written falls under editorial freedom. Moreover, the data subject actively sought out and profited from the media attention. The DPA noted that the right to be forgotten (Article 17(1) GDPR) is not applicable when processing is necessary to exercise the right to freedom of expression and information (Article 17(3)(a)). It explained that balance must be found between the freedom of expression of information and the right to protection of personal data. The DPA agrees with the data subject that the inclusion of an article in name-based search results may constitute a more serious interference with the right to privacy, since it is more accessible and can play a decisive role in the spread of that information. However, the data subject did not address a search engine, but an online archive. The DPA will therefore only address the applicability of Article 17(1)(c) and it's exception laid down in Article 17(3)(a). The DPA stated that the freedom of expression and journalistic liberty (Article 10 ECHR)