JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Grand Chamber)
8 December 2022 (*)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data – Directive 95/46/EC – Article 12(b) – Point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 14 – Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – Article 17(3)(a) – Operator of an internet search engine – Research carried out on the basis of a person’s name – Displaying a link to articles containing allegedly inaccurate information in the list of search results – Displaying, in the form of thumbnails, photographs illustrating those articles in the list of results of an image search – Request for de-referencing made to the operator of the search engine – Weighing-up of fundamental rights – Articles 7, 8, 11 and 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Obligations and responsibilities of the operator of the search engine in respect of processing a request for de-referencing – Burden of proof on the person requesting de-referencing)
In Case C 460/20,
REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice, Germany), made by decision of 27 July 2020, received at the Court on 24 September 2020, in the proceedings
TU,
RE
v
Google LLC
THE COURT (Grand Chamber),
composed of K. Lenaerts, President, L. Bay Larsen, Vice-President, A. Prechal, K. Jürimäe, C. Lycourgos, P.G. Xuereb, L.S. Rossi and D. Gratsias, Presidents of Chambers, M. Ilešič (Rapporteur), F. Biltgen, N. Piçarra, N. Jääskinen, N. Wahl, I. Ziemele and J. Passer, Judges,
Advocate General: G. Pitruzzella,
Registrar: D. Dittert, Head of Unit,
having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 24 January 2022,
after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:
– TU and RE, by M. Siegmann and T. Stöber, Rechtsanwälte,
– Google LLC, by B. Heymann, J. Spiegel and J. Wimmers, Rechtsanwälte,
– the Greek Government, by S. Charitaki, A. Magrippi and M. Tassopoulou, acting as Agents,
– the Austrian Government, by G. Kunnert, A. Posch and J. Schmoll, acting as Agents,
– the Romanian Government, by E. Gane and L. Liţu, acting as Agents,
– the European Commission, by A. Bouchagiar, F. Erlbacher, H. Kranenborg and D. Nardi, acting as Agents,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 7 April 2022,
gives the following
Judgment
1 This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 17(3)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ 2016 L 119, p. 1; ‘the GDPR’) and Article 12(b) and point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 14 of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (OJ 1995 L281, p.31), read in the light of Articles 7, 8, 11 and 16 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).
2 The request has been made in proceedings between TU and RE, of the one part, and Google LLC, of the other part, concerning a request seeking, first, that articles in which they are identified be de-referenced from the results of a search carried out on the basis of their names and, second, that photographs representing them, displayed in the form of preview images (‘thumbnails’), be removed from the results of an image search.
Legal context
Directive 95/46
3 Article 1 of Directive 95/46, entitled ‘Object of the Directive’, provided in paragraph 1 thereof:
‘In accordance with this Directive, Member States shall protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data.’
4 Article 2 of that directive, entitled ‘Definitions’, provided:
‘For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) “personal data” shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (“data subject”); …
(b) “processing of personal data” (“processing”): shall mean any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means, …