Google Spain v. Gonzáles: Did the Court forget about freedom of expression?

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kulk, Stefan, Borgesius, Frederik Zuiderveen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kulk, Stefan
Borgesius, Frederik Zuiderveen
author_facet Kulk, Stefan
Borgesius, Frederik Zuiderveen
contents When reviewing a job application letter, going on a first date, or considering doing business with someone, the first thing many people do is entering the person's name in a search engine. A search engine can point searchers to information that would otherwise have remained obscure. If somebody searched for the name of Spanish lawyer Mario Costeja González, Google showed search results that included a link to a 1998 newspaper announcement implying he had financial troubles at the time. González wanted Google to stop showing those links and started a procedure in Spain. After some legal wrangling, the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (National High Court) asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for advice on the application of the Data Protection Directive, which led to the controversial judgment in Google Spain. In its judgment, the CJEU holds that people, under certain conditions, have the right to have search results for their name delisted. This right can also extend to lawfully published information.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_13404
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Google Spain v. Gonzáles: Did the Court forget about freedom of expression?
Kulk, Stefan
Borgesius, Frederik Zuiderveen
Computers and Society
When reviewing a job application letter, going on a first date, or considering doing business with someone, the first thing many people do is entering the person's name in a search engine. A search engine can point searchers to information that would otherwise have remained obscure. If somebody searched for the name of Spanish lawyer Mario Costeja González, Google showed search results that included a link to a 1998 newspaper announcement implying he had financial troubles at the time. González wanted Google to stop showing those links and started a procedure in Spain. After some legal wrangling, the Spanish Audiencia Nacional (National High Court) asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for advice on the application of the Data Protection Directive, which led to the controversial judgment in Google Spain. In its judgment, the CJEU holds that people, under certain conditions, have the right to have search results for their name delisted. This right can also extend to lawfully published information.
title Google Spain v. Gonzáles: Did the Court forget about freedom of expression?
topic Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.13404