The Court of Justice of the European Union ('CJEU') issued, on 24 September 2019, its decision ('the Decision') on Google LLC v. CNIL Case C-507/17 regarding Google's request for the annulment of the French data protection authority's ('CNIL') €100,000 penalty following a formal notice for the removal of a natural person's web pages from all of Google's domain name extensions.

In particular, the CJEU ruled that, among other things, the individual's request for their information to no longer be made available to the general public was overridden by the preponderant interest of the general public in having access to the information in question. The CJEU stated, therefore, that the right to be forgotten as stipulated in Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) ('GDPR') did not apply. Furthermore, the CJEU noted that there is no obligation for a search engine operator who grants a right to be forgotten request by a data subject following an injunction from a supervisory or judicial authority of a Member State to carry out such a de-referencing on all the versions of its search engine. 

You can read the Decision here.

UPDATE (24 September 2019)

CNIL issues response to CJEU decision

CNIL issued, on 24 September 2019, its response ('the Response') to the Decision. In particular, CNIL noted that the Decision stipulates that a search engine's de-referencing must be effective at the European level, and not only in the country of residence of the applicant. Furthermore, CNIL stated that the Decision highlights that, although EU law does not impose worldwide de-referencing, it does not prohibit it either. Thus, the Response emphasises that a supervisory authority, such as CNIL, is competent to oblige a search engine to de-reference results on all versions of its engine if this is justified, in certain cases, to guarantee the rights of the person concerned.

Furthermore, CNIL noted that the Decision requires search engines to take effective measures to prevent, or at least seriously discourage, a European internet user from accessing de-referenced links. Moreover, the Response notes that the Council of State should now assess whether the changes made by Google to its search engine since 2016 are sufficient. Finally, CNIL outlined that it will apply the Decision's conclusions in the processing of the hundreds of requests for de-referencing that it receives each year.

You can read the Response, only available in French, here.