Right to be forgotten
Also called: Right to erasure · Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The right to be forgotten is a person's right to have old or personal information about them removed from the internet or other records, or unlinked from their name. It is also called the right to erasure. It grows out of the right to privacy, which Puttaswamy (2017) held to be part of Article 21. High Courts have recognised it case by case. The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 now gives a statutory right (a right created by an ordinary law) to have personal data erased. Critics point out that the Act gives the State broad exemptions from its rules.
Example
Suppose a person was acquitted in a criminal case many years ago, but their name still shows up in online search results about the case. They can ask a High Court to have their name hidden or the link removed.
Don't confuse with
- Right to privacy: the wider fundamental right. The right to be forgotten is one narrow part of it, about removing past information.
Related concepts
- K.S. Puttaswamy case
- Right to privacy
- Navtej Singh Johar case
- Joseph Shine case
- Supriyo Chakraborty case
- Right to marry of one's choice
- Reproductive autonomy
- Passive euthanasia
- Living will
- Vishaka case