Overview

The concept of electronic data erasure, which is more commonly referred to as the “right to be forgotten”, means that individuals can apply for the erasure of certain information from the internet. This idea is in fact not particularly new and has existed as a concept since 1995, in other words from the earliest days of the mass adoption of the Internet, in the form of European Union Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data (“Directive”).

Under the Directive, the term “right to erasure” was used instead of today's buzz phrase: the right to be forgotten. However, back in 1995, the internet was not nearly as developed as it is today. The term “right to erasure” thus lacked any significant context until Mario Costeja Gonzalez brought an action against La Vanguardia and Google back in 2010 which specifically addressed “the right to erasure” provision.[1]