The High Court has today given judgment in the linked cases of NT1 v Google LLC and NT2 v Google LLC. These high-profile challenges are the first claims before the English High Court in which claimants have relied on the ‘right to be forgotten’ recognised by the EU Court of Justice in the famous Google Spain case, to seek court orders requiring Google to ‘delist’ certain internet links from being returned against search queries on Google Search.
The litigation raised a host of legal issues, including the applicability of the GDPR before 25 May 2018, the relationship between the Data Protection Directive and the E-Commerce Directive, the question whether Google’s Search activities involved processing data ‘for the purposes of journalism’ for the purposes of the relevant data protection exemptions, and the appropriate balance between data privacy rights and the free expression rights guaranteed by the EU Charter.
Anya Proops KC and Rupert Paines of 11KBW acted in both cases for the Information Commissioner, who intervened in light of the important legal issues raised in the case.
