The right to be forgotten in Spain is provided under the General Data Protection Regulation. This grants data protection rights to individuals.

In this article, we provide an in-depth guide on the right to be forgotten in Spain.

Is there Right To Be Forgotten in Spain?

The right to be forgotten in Spain is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation.

The GDPR is available to all citizens and residents of the European Union. This applies to every member nation of the European Union. As Spain is a member of the European Union, the GDPR is applicable there.

The general principles of Article 17 of the GDPR are applicable in Spain. This controls the reasons when the right to be forgotten can be exercised. Some of the common reasons are:

  • The data was collected without the consent of the data subject.
  • The data subject gave the consent initially but has subsequently withdrawn it.
  • The data was collected in an illegal manner.
  • There is no overriding legitimate purpose for continuing the storage of data.
  • The storage of data does not further the public interest.
  • The processing of data is not required for scientific development.

If any of the above conditions are met, then the residents and citizens of Spain can submit a right to be forgotten request. This request should be submitted directly to the company which has stored the data. Once the request has been submitted, the company will have 30 days to process it.

Right To Be Forgotten in Spain: Exceptions

As per the right to be forgotten in Spain, the company has two options. First, it can accept the request and permanently remove the information. Second, it can refuse to remove the information. In the case of the second option, the company will be required to provide a specific reason for taking the decision.

  • The data is being shared to comply with the law or a legal ruling.
  • The data is being used to build a legal defense.
  • The data is being shared in an exercise of the companies right to freedom of speech and expression.
  • The data is necessary for scientific or medical research.
  • Sharing the data furthers the public interest.

If such conditions are met, the company has the right to refuse the removal of information. In any case, the decision will have to be communicated within 30 days, and the data subject will have the right to take further legal action.

Is there any law for the right to be forgotten in Spain?

The right to be forgotten in Spain has received a lot of attention due to several reasons. The most important is the case between Google and Spain. This defined the parameters of the right to be forgotten.

In this case, Google argued that it is not bound by the right to be forgotten. This is due to the fact that Google is merely sharing information. It is not a commercial website or a blog but rather a search engine.

This argument was rejected by the European Court of Justice. The Court of Justice held that Google used personal information for commercial benefit. Even if it did not share the information, it played a key role in who gets to see it. Therefore, the right to be forgotten can be exercised against Google.

Conclusion

The GDPR provides the right to be forgotten in Spain. This gives a high level of data protection to data subjects. Data subjects have a right to determine who gets to store, process, and share their personal information.

FAQ

  1. Is there a right to be forgotten in Spain?

Yes. As Spain is a member of the European Union, the right to be forgotten under the General Data Protection Regulation is applicable that.

  1. Does everyone have a right to be forgotten?

Generally speaking, every citizen and resident of the European Union has a right to be forgotten. Apart from this, many countries have acted their own domestic legislation to protect the right to be forgotten.

  1. Is the right to be forgotten a fundamental right?

The right to be forgotten is recognized under the right to privacy which is a fundamental right.

  1. What is the ruling in Google v. Spain?

It was held that the right to be forgotten could be exercised against commercial search engines such as Google.

 

Author

Right to be forgotten lawyer team is working to keep clean the internet. We use laws to repair individual's and company's online reputation. Content removal, online reputation management, erasure right, right to be forgotten are our expertise areas. The team has member's of United United Kingdom, European Countries, United States, Australia, Canada and New Zeland solicitors and lawyers.

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