Brussels (AFP)

The "right to be forgotten" of European Internet users has no global reach for search engines like Google, Tuesday decided European justice, in a case emblematic of the conflict between the protection of privacy and freedom of expression .

However, this right applies in all EU Member States, according to the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) established in Luxembourg.

This decision gives reason to Google in its litigation, in France, against the National Commission of Computing and Liberties (Cnil), which had imposed in 2016 a fine of 100,000 euros, reproaching him for limiting this "right to 'forget' to only European versions of the search engine.

"It is good to see that the Court agrees with our arguments, and we are grateful to the independent human rights organizations, media associations and many others around the world who have also presented their views, "reacted Google in a statement.

Devoted in 2014 by European justice, the right to be forgotten allows each European to obtain, under conditions, the removal of links that appear in the results of a search engine after a query on his name.

In its dispute with Google, the French regulator believed that deletions should apply to all versions of the search engine in the world to be effective.

The US group, backed by several rights organizations, said it respected the "right to be forgotten" not only in the country of European claimants but throughout the EU. And that going beyond that would have created risks for freedom of expression.

It would also have allowed authoritarian countries to use this precedent to restrict access to certain information.

Google had challenged his conviction before the French Council of State, the highest administrative court in the country, which in turn sought the advice of the CJEU.

- "Sensitive data" -

"As it stands, for the operator of a search engine that grants a request for dereferencing (...) of an obligation under EU law, there is no such dereferencing on all versions of its engine, "said the CJEU in its judgment Tuesday.

"Union law requires, however, the operator of a search engine to operate such a dereference on versions of its engine corresponding to all Member States", it is emphasized.

The dereferencing should "if necessary, be accompanied by measures that effectively prevent or, at the very least, seriously discourage searchers" to access "via a version of this engine + outside the EU +, links that are the subject of the application ".

The CJEU also ruled Tuesday on another case of personal data, in which it was also seized by the French justice, concerning requests for deletion of links denied to individuals.

The CNIL had indeed refused to force Google to remove several links to articles referring to convictions for pedophile acts, or to a web page showing a satirical photomontage of a woman politician.

In its judgment, the Court considers that if the request for dereference concerns a link containing "sensitive data", the search engine must itself "check if the inclusion of this link in the list of results (...) is strictly necessary to protect the freedom of information of Internet users.

If the request concerns "data relating to a judicial proceeding", but which "relates to an earlier stage of this procedure", the search engine "must take into consideration all the circumstances of the case".

This concerns "the nature and gravity of the offense in question, the conduct and outcome of the proceedings, the time elapsed, the role played by that person in public life" or "his behavior in the past".

© 2019 AFP