On 28 June 2022, the Supreme Court of Justice rejected a ruling that had previously admitted the right to be forgotten in a claim filed against Google. In this earlier case, the Court of Appeals in civil matters had ordered the search engine to proceed with de-indexing certain online content referring to events that had occurred over 20 years prior.
According to the plaintiff, Natalia Denegri, these contents affected her privacy and dignity. Denegri based her claim on the right to be forgotten and on the provisions of the European Court in the renowned 2014 case Google Spain SL Google Inc v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González.
Unlike in the European Union, the right to be forgotten in Argentina is not contemplated in legislation except in cases relating to financial information and criminal records.
Both in the first instance and in the Court of Appeals decision, the claim was admitted, and the right to forgotten was recognised. As a result, Google filed for an extraordinary relief against the Court of Appeals decision.
By unanimous decision, the Supreme Court granted extraordinary relief, revoked the Court of Appeals decision and dismissed the complaint. In its judgment, the Supreme Court highlighted the relevance of the right to freedom of speech in the Argentine legal system.
The Court pointed out that the plaintiff is a public person who was involved in a matter of public interest that is still relevant today. It determined that there is no violation to the right to honour when it is a matter of dissemination of truthful information on matters of public interest.
Although the Court acknowledged that preventive guardianship could be awarded in exceptional circumstances, in this case, there was no constitutional or legal basis to support Denegri's claim, despite the unlawfulness of the contents and the damage that the plaintiff had suffered.
Finally, the Court established that the dissemination of the information does not mean a serious infringement of privacy.
For further information on this topic please contact Mariano Peruzzotti or Mateo Darget at Ojam Bullrich Flanzbaum by telephone (+54 11 4549-4900) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The Ojam Bullrich Flanzbaum website can be accessed at www.ojambf.com.