Right to be forgotten

Why in News?

The Delhi High Court has reaffirmed that the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) flows from the constitutional right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution and directed search engines and legal databases to restrict name-based access to certain court records involving acquitted or discharged individuals.

What did the Court Hold?

• The Right to be Forgotten enables individuals to seek the removal of personal information from public digital accessibility when it no longer serves a legitimate public purpose.
• Search engines such as Google should not continue to prominently display court records relating to:
  • Acquittals
  • Discharges
  • Quashed criminal proceedings
  • Settled disputes
  • Private matters with no overriding public interest
• The Court observed that no law specifically authorizes search engines to indefinitely display such records through name-based searches.

What is De-indexing?

• De-indexing means removing a person’s name as a searchable key from search engine results.
• It does not delete or erase the court judgment from official records.
• The judgment remains publicly available through:
  • Case numbers
  • Citations
  • Court databases
  • Other legal search methods
• Thus, de-indexing balances privacy rights with judicial transparency.

Directions Issued by the Court

• Search engines were directed to comply with the de-indexing order within two weeks.
• The Court also directed Indian Kanoon to restrict name-based search functionality concerning the petitioners involved in the case.
• The legal records themselves remain part of the public judicial archive.

What is the Right to be Forgotten?

• It is the right of an individual to limit the continued public availability of personal information on digital platforms when such information has become irrelevant, excessive, outdated or disproportionate.
• It is considered an extension of the Right to Privacy recognized by the Supreme Court in the landmark Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India judgment.

Sources: TH & IE