The Spanish Supreme Court extends the right to erasure

Particularly, recognized the right to erasure (former “right be forgotten”) about internet searches carried out with just the two surnames of the person concerned if the information related to the data subject undermines the right to honor, privacy or self-image, provided that the information is not of public interest and can be considered obsolete.

This is a novelty with respect to the decision made by the Spanish Data Protection Authority, which did not consider necessary to go beyond the protection of the name and surname. In this case, the Supreme Court considered necessary that searches carried out not only by the full name of the data subject, but also by the surnames, be de-indexed.

This ruling is relevant from the point of view, not just of data protection regulations, also for the primacy of European Law, since it gives priority to European Law over the local law. The rules on Spanish Civil Registration stipulate that persons are designated by their name and surname, in an inseparable manner, however, the Supreme Court asserts European standards must not be hindered in their interpretation and spirit by local regulations, as soon as they cause the scope of the right of erasure to be limited unjustifiably.

On the other hand, this ruling does not solve the existing problem of compatibility between the right to privacy and the right of a free press. For the time being, its frictions will be resolved by means of the weighting that must be produced in courts.