AEPD (Spain) - E/00378/2020

AEPD - E/00378/2020
Authority:	AEPD (Spain)
Jurisdiction:	Spain
Relevant Law:
Type:	Investigation
Outcome:	No further action
Started:
Decided:	5. 2. 2020
Published:	5. 2. 2020
Fine:	None
Parties:	[Facebook Spain, S.L. Google LLC (Google Spain, S.L.)]
National Case Number/Name:	E/00378/2020
European Case Law Identifier:	n/a
Appeal:	n/a
Original Language(s):	Spanish
Original Source:	AEPD (in ES)
Initial Contributor:	n/a

The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) decided not to take further actions on Google, LLC (Google Spain, S.L.) and Facebook Spain, S.L. as data controllers for the non-compliance with the right to be forgotten of a Spanish citizen, as per Article 17 GDPR.

English Summary

Facts

The decision is the consequence of a complaint submitted by a Spanish citizen stating that both data controllers included some links and publications related to a crime he committed in 2006, during his service as a local police, and that not only some information was untrue, but also such links included his name and surname, picture, national ID number, badge number and possible diseases.

Dispute

Both data controllers answered to the AEPD stating that the non-fulfilment of this right to be forgotten was correct: (1) according to Google, many of the links are not available anymore and the rest are referred to the citizen's professional life, are covered by freedom of expression and are accurate because they referred to a sentence, dated 2011, that the citizen is currently serving, and (2) according to Facebook, the reported publications do not violate its privacy policy and are covered by freedom of expression.

Holding

Thus, the AEPD understood that the right to be forgotten was not applicable here and decided not to take further actions on the data controllers, according to these facts: as long as the news reported by the citizen are currently published in different mass media and social networks, and as long as they are critical with the citizen's professional (not personal) life, freedom of expression shall prevail. The decision also mentions that, in case the citizen still considers that such content is humiliating, he shall address to the corresponding Spanish court on a proceeding for the protection of his honour.

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the Spanish original. Please refer to the Spanish original for more details.

To be added