This article has been written by Reet Babbar, a second year student of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun.
What is the Right to be Forgotten?
Today’s society, which we may also refer to as the technological age, places an increasing amount of value on our virtual identities and online presence. With just one click, anybody may now access our lives, and anyone can view an outline of our lifetimes on digital platforms or search engines. But it’s crucial to realize that despite how much our lifestyles have advanced, many individuals continue to face difficulties as a result of information about their life being published online and people criticizing them solely on the basis of it without verifying whether something is accurate or not.
Despite being a recently evolved concept, the Right to be Forgotten has been gaining prominence and recognition in various courts across the nation. This right, commonly referred to as the “right to erasure,” allows individuals to demand that certain private information about them be removed from searches on the internet and other databases. In a number of jurisdictions around the world, notably Argentina, the European Union, and even the Philippines, the concept has been proposed and even put into practice. The dilemma with this right stems from people’s want to lead their lives autonomously without constantly or even frequently being condemned as an outcome of a specific act they carried out in the past.
For instance, if someone gets accused of a crime even if they haven’t committed any wrongdoing and the case is ultimately dismissed by the court. However, whenever someone searches on that person’s name online or using another search engine, the first result that appears is the criminal case in which he was implicated. All potential clients of those individual, as well as social connections could have access to this information, which would inevitably result in some type of societal stigmatization towards that person. So it naturally follows that he would wish to be “forgotten” and would want that all information on him pertaining to that criminal case be erased, and this is what Right to be Forgotten is all about.
Evolution in India
When we analyze the Right to be Forgotten, the landmark case of Jorawar Singh Mundy v. Union of India and Delhi High Court’s judgement in this case is a leading example. The petitioner in this case returned to India from the United States in 2009, and as soon as he arrived in the country, a case was immediately filed against him under the NDPS Act, generally known as the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985. But in 2011, the Trial Court dismissed all of the allegations brought against him in connection with this case, leading to his acquittal as well. Following the acquisition, the petitioner returns to the United States, where he stays for the following years and finishes his degree. But despite his exceptional academic records and qualifications, not a single company was interested in hiring him because every employer used to conduct a background check on him prior to the interview, and the top result that they always discovered was the charges that had previously been filed against him.
The petitioner, who was wronged by the aforementioned incidents, brought this case in the Delhi High Court. He contended that since the court had acquitted him of all allegations, what purpose was served by still displaying the case on public domains through which people could still access it. He claimed that it violated his right to privacy, which was recognized as a fundamental right under Article 21 in the case of K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India. Therefore, he requested that this case be taken down from all public domains, including vLex.in, Indian Kanoon, and Google India Pvt. Ltd. Only vLex.in complied with this request and erased the case from their platform; nevertheless, the other respondents objected and asserted that the petitioner’s claim was for the Right to be Forgotten, which is not recognized in our country. The court therefore had two rights that were in conflict when the case finally came before it, one of which it had to safeguard, namely the petitioner’s Right to Privacy against the public’s Right to Information, which enables them to have access to the information meant to promote accountability and transparency. The court decided that the Right to be Forgotten is currently not recognized by our legal system, and as a result, there is no current statutory protection available in this regard.
The court emphasized in its ruling that this right has been acknowledged by law in the European Union and that it gives individuals the right to request that information about them be withdrawn from social media websites and search engines if it is no longer relevant or is misleading. The European Union made an observation regarding this issue as well, stating that a person’s right to privacy is always paramount and that any corporate interests or even the public’s right to information always run subordinate to it. In light of this, the Supreme Court issued a ruling declaring that the rights to privacy and the right to be forgotten go sides of the same coin. In the present case, the apex court stated that all respondents will be obligated to take the petitioner’s case out of their public domains, further citing the precedent-setting decision of K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India.
In the case of Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan v. M/S Quintillion Business Media Pvt. Ltd. and others, Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan sought that articles critical of him that were published on the news website The Quint be taken down. The Right to Forgotten and the Right to Be Left Alone were recognized by the Delhi High Court as essential elements of Individuality.
The Ministry of Law and Justice included the Right to be Forgotten as a statutory right in the Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) in response to the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee’s recommendation, and as a result, a person may request that misleading personal information about him be deleted from the internet, but the bill hasn’t been passed yet.
Even though it hasn’t yet been codified into law, the right is incredibly important since it may significantly boost efficiency and autonomy while also providing a lot of security mechanism. Ongoing legal and legislative developments in this field have been mindful of the boundaries between what is beneficial to an individual, what is engaging to the broader public, and what serves the interests of the public.
Criticism and Drawbacks
Despite being a massively important right, the right to be forgotten conflicts with many other fundamental rights that are safeguarded by the constitution. In order to live a life of dignity, a person has the right to request that the public forgets any information about him which is misleading or irrelevant for that matter. However, doing so restricts someone else’s right to freedom and expression, which enables them to verbalize their thoughts in whatsoever manner. As a result, when one person exercises their right, it becomes more challenging for another individual to use their right. It also violates the Right to Information since many relevant pieces of information that the public needs to access have already been altered to benefit the individual against whom they were directed.
Conclusion
We are familiar with the existence of Article 21, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, and we also acknowledge that it encompasses a number of additional rights whose legitimacy is being contested and whose scope is being expanded by each subsequent judgment. The right to be forgotten has a distinct prominence, but it contradicts with numerous other freedoms. As a result, equilibrium must be maintained, as it is currently being handled by the judiciary, and stringent regulations addressing it cannot be introduced instantaneously without considering the ramifications.
References
- https://articles.manupatra.com/article-details/Right-to-be-forgotten
- https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-7112-right-to-be-forgotten-in-india.html
- https://gdpr.eu/right-to-be-forgotten/
- https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2022/01/27/the-evolution-of-right-to-be-forgotten-in-india/
- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/
- https://indiankanoon.org/doc/122795604/
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