The Washington Post reported that European Court of Justice issued a ruling which may influence courts around the world about the enforceability of GDPR by stating that “Google does not have to remove links to people’s sensitive data beyond the E.U.’s 28 member states.”  The September 24, 2019 article entitled “Google scores major victory in E.U. ‘right to be forgotten’ case” included these comments:

The “right to be forgotten” law also tackles evolving questions about whether people can demand that their data be removed from search engines without interfering with free speech and the public’s right to information.

In a statement Tuesday, the court said that “currently, there is no obligation under E.U. law, for a search engine operator … to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine."

Still, the court said that a search engine operator has to adopt measures that discourage Internet users from venturing outside the E.U. to find sensitive information.

This is a wake-up call about GDPR and how the courts may rule in the future.

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