exclude liability of the media.
16 This has not prevented a great number of cases being
brought in front of both the Garante and the courts.
The problem—from a strictly legal point of view—is that data protection has to
be seen as one of the legal reactions against the growing invasion of the individual
sphere by technologies and by enterprises. One needs to, constantly, set the balance
between competing values and needs.
Although it may be said that, in general, the result is in favour of the media, which
is mostly exonerated from complying with the numerous data protection regulations
which vex all other enterprises, there are still areas in which the equilibrium is
instable, although this can be decided only on a case-by-case approach.
The most significant cases have been decided by the Garante who, time by time, has
forbidden the publication by the press of highly sensitive data, mostly concerning
health conditions or sexual conduct (e.g. Garante decision 7 February 2002, n. 46079
on a person affected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; Garante decision 13 November
2013, n.2749736 on persons allegedly involved in child prostitution investigation).
2.5 Countervailing Interests: Right to Be Forgotten
The right to be forgotten has been recognized—albeit not in a complete form—by
the CJEU decision in the Google Spain case. It should be noted however that already
in 2012 the Corte di Cassazione (decision 5 April 2012, n. 5525
17 ) on the basis of
data protection laws had stated that news archived in a journalistic database had to be
updated with more recent information, if any; and that individuals had a right that
news related to decades before should fall in oblivion.
The principle has been repeatedly affirmed in decisions by the Garante, who has
ordered, as remedy, that of de-indexing the news so that it may not be ordinarily
found through search engines.
2.6 Countervailing Interests: Transparency of Economic
Activity
Following a European trend, both the Garante and the courts have recognized ample
exceptions to data protection legislation when data is processed by public credit
reporting agencies. In particular, it has been considered compliant with data protection principles both the availability of data concerning the bankruptcy of companies,
16 Provvedimento del Garante del 29 luglio 1998 “Codice di deontologia relativo al trattamento dei
dati personalinell’esercizio dell’attività giornalistica”.
17 Published in Il diritto dell’informazione e dell’informatica (2012), p. 452 (with note by Frosini at
p. 911).
248
V. Zeno-Zencovich
16 This has not prevented a great number of cases being
brought in front of both the Garante and the courts.
The problem—from a strictly legal point of view—is that data protection has to
be seen as one of the legal reactions against the growing invasion of the individual
sphere by technologies and by enterprises. One needs to, constantly, set the balance
between competing values and needs.
Although it may be said that, in general, the result is in favour of the media, which
is mostly exonerated from complying with the numerous data protection regulations
which vex all other enterprises, there are still areas in which the equilibrium is
instable, although this can be decided only on a case-by-case approach.
The most significant cases have been decided by the Garante who, time by time, has
forbidden the publication by the press of highly sensitive data, mostly concerning
health conditions or sexual conduct (e.g. Garante decision 7 February 2002, n. 46079
on a person affected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; Garante decision 13 November
2013, n.2749736 on persons allegedly involved in child prostitution investigation).
2.5 Countervailing Interests: Right to Be Forgotten
The right to be forgotten has been recognized—albeit not in a complete form—by
the CJEU decision in the Google Spain case. It should be noted however that already
in 2012 the Corte di Cassazione (decision 5 April 2012, n. 5525
17 ) on the basis of
data protection laws had stated that news archived in a journalistic database had to be
updated with more recent information, if any; and that individuals had a right that
news related to decades before should fall in oblivion.
The principle has been repeatedly affirmed in decisions by the Garante, who has
ordered, as remedy, that of de-indexing the news so that it may not be ordinarily
found through search engines.
2.6 Countervailing Interests: Transparency of Economic
Activity
Following a European trend, both the Garante and the courts have recognized ample
exceptions to data protection legislation when data is processed by public credit
reporting agencies. In particular, it has been considered compliant with data protection principles both the availability of data concerning the bankruptcy of companies,
16 Provvedimento del Garante del 29 luglio 1998 “Codice di deontologia relativo al trattamento dei
dati personalinell’esercizio dell’attività giornalistica”.
17 Published in Il diritto dell’informazione e dell’informatica (2012), p. 452 (with note by Frosini at
p. 911).
248
V. Zeno-Zencovich