EU Data Protection Authorities Issue Guidelines On Right To Be Forgotten

The European data protection authorities assembled in the so called Article 29 Working Party (WP 29) have issued guidelines on the implementation of the ruling of the European Court of Justice on the right to be forgotten in internet search engines, the Google Spain decision. 

WP 29 interpret the judgement that the EU data protection law applies to all search engines which effectively process data themselves or through subsidiaries on EU territory with the aim to make profit. The right to request de-listing exists regardless of the relevant domain being of EU or other origin. The search result has to be deleted but not the source of the information e.g. held on the search engine's servers.

The WP 29 then also lists 13 common criteria for the handling of complaints by the European data protection authorities.