Right to be Forgotten

Subject – Polity

Concept –

The right to be forgotten (hereafter, RTBF) is often considered as a fallout of the right to privacy.
The RTBF can be traced from the case of Google Spain SL, Google Inc v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González (2014).
For the first time, it was officially recognised through the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in addition to the right to erasure. It stated that the personal data must be deleted immediately when the data is no longer needed for the original intent.

RTBF in India–

In the decision of the Supreme Court on K S Puttaswamy, the Court held that, “… there is no statue which recognizes right to be forgotten but it is in sync with the right to privacy.”
Following which, the Delhi High Court in its decision of ZulfiqarAhman Khan v Quintillion Business Media (P) Ltd also recognised the RTBF and the “right to be left alone” as an integral part of an individual’s existence.
The RTBF has not been formally embraced in India, but it is part of the Personal Data Security Bill Draft, 2018.
Supreme Court and High Courts are court of record, and the copies of documents in any civil or criminal proceedings and that of the judgment of the high court can be given to third parties.

To know more about it, please refer August 2021 DPN.