Google Spain, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (2014)

Abstract

In finding that Google Search had EU data controller responsibilities and fell outside of the journalistic/special expression regime, Google Spain enunciated EU data protection’s central position in the governance of the dissemination of personal data online. However, this judgment was far from entirely unequivocal or clear. In holding that a search engine only needed to act when it “significantly and additionally” affected data subject right’s and only then within the “framework of its responsibilities, powers and responsibilities” the Court limited data protection. Whilst it is wrong to see the retained scope as being restricted to ex post delinking of data from name-based searches, these limits are both far-reaching and uncertain. Other aspects of the judgment including its precise geographical scope and its understanding of contextual balancing were also left opaque, although subsequent Court jurisprudence has added more detail. The implications of the judgment for other active intermediaries was and remains in doubt. In sum, the case is undoubtedly a pinnacle of data protection but has contours which remain contested and is positioned within misty terrain which is difficult to navigate. N.B. This chapter was originally published in the following edited volume: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/landmark-cases-in-privacy-law-9781509940769/