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Dutch Surgeon Wins Landmark 'Right to be Forgotten' Case

posted by chromas on Monday January 21 2019, @09:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the and-her-name-was-[deleted] dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for Sulla

A Dutch surgeon formally disciplined for her medical negligence has won a legal action to remove Google search results about her case in a landmark "right to be forgotten" ruling.

The doctor's registration on the register of healthcare professionals was initially suspended by a disciplinary panel because of her postoperative care of a patient. After an appeal, this was changed to a conditional suspension under which she was allowed to continue to practise.

But the first results after entering the doctor's name in Google continued to be links to a website containing an unofficial blacklist, which it was claimed amounted to "digital pillory". It was heard that potential patients had found the blacklist on Google and discussed the case on a web forum.

Google and the Dutch data privacy watchdog, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, initially rejected attempts to have the links removed on the basis that the doctor was still on probation and the information remained relevant.

However, in what is said to be the first right to be forgotten case involving medical negligence by a doctor, the district court of Amsterdam subsequently ruled the surgeon had "an interest in not indicating that every time someone enters their full name in Google's search engine, (almost) immediately the mention of her name appears on the blacklist of doctors, and this importance adds more weight than the public's interest in finding this information in this way".

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jan/21/dutch-surgeon-wins-landmark-right-to-be-forgotten-case-google

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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday January 22 2019, @01:44AM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday January 22 2019, @01:44AM (#789909)

    The right to be forgotten seems to be an EU thing, based on the principle that people should not be punished forever, which I have some sympathy for, but it seems to be mostly set up so that the wealthy can escape the consequences of their actions.

    Surprise, surprise.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2019, @02:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2019, @02:13AM (#789924)

    Surprise, surprise.

    The only surprising thing is that people keep looking to the government to solve things in a way that does no result in more inequality. It always does.