# Standards and Regulatory References — Search Engine Erasure

## Primary Legislation

### GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)
- **Article 17(1)** — Right to erasure (right to be forgotten)
- **Article 17(2)** — Obligation to inform other controllers when data made public
- **Article 17(3)(a)** — Exception: freedom of expression and information
- **Article 21** — Right to object (ground for erasure under Art. 17(1)(c))
- **Recital 65** — Right to erasure elaboration
- **Recital 66** — Right to be forgotten in the online environment

### Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU
- **Article 7** — Respect for private and family life
- **Article 8** — Protection of personal data
- **Article 11** — Freedom of expression and information

## Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Case Law

### Case C-131/12 — Google Spain SL v AEPD (13 May 2014)
- Established that search engine operators are data controllers
- Established the right to de-indexing of search results
- Established the balancing test between privacy rights and public interest in information
- Data subject's rights override as a rule, unless particular reasons justify continued indexing

### Case C-507/17 — Google LLC v CNIL (24 September 2019)
- EU law does not require global de-indexing
- De-indexing must cover all EU/EEA versions of the search engine
- Geo-blocking measures must be implemented to prevent EU users accessing de-indexed results via non-EU versions

### Case C-136/17 — GC and Others v CNIL (24 September 2019)
- Sensitive data in search results requires a strengthened right to de-indexing
- Search engine operators must assess requests relating to special category data with heightened scrutiny

## Regulatory Guidance

### EDPB (European Data Protection Board)
- **Guidelines 5/2019 on the criteria of the Right to be Forgotten in the search engines cases under the GDPR** (adopted 7 July 2020) — 13 criteria for assessing delisting requests
- **Guidelines on Territorial Scope** — Interaction between territorial scope and de-indexing obligations

### National DPA Guidance
- **CNIL (France)** — Extensive guidance and enforcement on right to be forgotten; original complainant in C-507/17
- **AEPD (Spain)** — Original complainant in C-131/12; guidance on de-indexing procedures
- **ICO (UK)** — Guidance on right to erasure including search engine context

## National Legislation (Rehabilitation of Offenders)
- **UK Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974** — Spent convictions regime; relevant to criminal data de-indexing
- **French Law on the Right to be Forgotten for Criminal Matters** — National provisions on criminal data
- **German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) s.46** — Definitions relevant to criminal data processing