| 英文摘要 |
In May 2014, The European Court of Justice rendered a world-renowned judgment, Google Spain SL v. AEPD, recognizing the so-called“right to be forgotten.”Such judgment not only significantly impacts EU member states, but also influences the legislation and/or judicial decisions of Mexico, Columbia, Russia, India, Japan, and Taiwan. All these countries now recognize a similar right.
From the constitutional law perspective, recognizing and implementing the right to the forgotten has involved rather complicated legal relationships among data subjects, states, search engines, content providers, and general internet users. Because abundant articles already discuss the right to be forgotten, this essay will address the following four unresolved and highly disputed issues. The first and most fundamental issue is what is the constitutional basis of the right to be forgotten? Is it the right to personality or the right to information privacy? Second, should the right be applied to original content providers, such as online news archives? Third, when this right applies to search engines or other online platforms, is it implicated in the companies’property right or freedom of speech? Fourth, when a search engine or online platform decides to remove specific search results or contents, is it required to follow specific processes to protect the rights of the content providers or internet users? By thoroughly analyzing these issues, this essay wishes to provide essential references to Taiwan’s legislature and judiciary when handling the right to be forgotten questions in the future. |
