The new law of Georgia “On Personal Data Protection” establishes the right of a person to request the termination of data processing, erasure, or destruction of data, which is also called the “Right to be forgotten”. You may be wondering what this right means and what obligations it imposes on the business sector. 

On May 13, 2014, the European Court of Justice decided on the dispute between the Spanish Mario Costeja Gonzalez and Google Spain, which created an important precedent in the field of personal data protection. 

A Spanish citizen requested that Google remove or mask his personal data from the search engine. The Court found that in the presence of a proper basis, a person has the right to request the erasure of information from the search system in such a way that no direct connection is established between the search words and the data about the said person. The said decision was the basis for establishing such a right as the “Right to be forgotten”. 

This obligation does not apply only to Google, and upon the entry into force of the new law, any legal entity is obliged to stop/terminate data processing, erase, or destroy data at the request of the data subject and if there is a relevant basis.