The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders

This article explores the challenges of the extraterritorial application of the right to be forgotten and, more broadly, of EU data protection law in light of the recent case law of the ECJ. The paper explains that there are good arguments for the EU to apply its high data protection standards outsi...

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Main Authors: Federico Fabbrini, Edoardo Celeste
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2020-03-01
Series:German Law Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2071832220000140/type/journal_article
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author Federico Fabbrini
Edoardo Celeste
author_facet Federico Fabbrini
Edoardo Celeste
author_sort Federico Fabbrini
collection DOAJ
description This article explores the challenges of the extraterritorial application of the right to be forgotten and, more broadly, of EU data protection law in light of the recent case law of the ECJ. The paper explains that there are good arguments for the EU to apply its high data protection standards outside its borders, but that such an extraterritorial application faces challenges, as it may clash with duties of international comity, legal diversity, or contrasting rulings delivered by courts in other jurisdictions. As the article points out from a comparative perspective, the protection of privacy in the digital age increasingly exposes a tension between efforts by legal systems to impose their high standards of data protection outside their borders – a dynamic which could be regarded as ‘imperialist’ – and claims by other legal systems to assert their own power over data – a dynamic which one could name ‘sovereigntist’. As the article suggests, navigating between the Scylla of imperialism and the Charybdis of sovereigntism will not be an easy task. In this context, greater convergence in the data protection framework of liberal democratic systems worldwide appears as the preferable path to secure privacy in the digital age.
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spelling doaj.art-2d463b7bf15e49bb80c112007a9b542a2023-03-09T12:35:16ZengCambridge University PressGerman Law Journal2071-83222020-03-0121556510.1017/glj.2020.14The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond BordersFederico FabbriniEdoardo Celestehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1984-4142This article explores the challenges of the extraterritorial application of the right to be forgotten and, more broadly, of EU data protection law in light of the recent case law of the ECJ. The paper explains that there are good arguments for the EU to apply its high data protection standards outside its borders, but that such an extraterritorial application faces challenges, as it may clash with duties of international comity, legal diversity, or contrasting rulings delivered by courts in other jurisdictions. As the article points out from a comparative perspective, the protection of privacy in the digital age increasingly exposes a tension between efforts by legal systems to impose their high standards of data protection outside their borders – a dynamic which could be regarded as ‘imperialist’ – and claims by other legal systems to assert their own power over data – a dynamic which one could name ‘sovereigntist’. As the article suggests, navigating between the Scylla of imperialism and the Charybdis of sovereigntism will not be an easy task. In this context, greater convergence in the data protection framework of liberal democratic systems worldwide appears as the preferable path to secure privacy in the digital age.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2071832220000140/type/journal_articledata protectionright to be forgottendata protection imperialismdigital sovereigntyextraterritoriality
spellingShingle Federico Fabbrini
Edoardo Celeste
The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
German Law Journal
data protection
right to be forgotten
data protection imperialism
digital sovereignty
extraterritoriality
title The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
title_full The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
title_fullStr The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
title_full_unstemmed The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
title_short The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: The Challenges of Data Protection Beyond Borders
title_sort right to be forgotten in the digital age the challenges of data protection beyond borders
topic data protection
right to be forgotten
data protection imperialism
digital sovereignty
extraterritoriality
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2071832220000140/type/journal_article
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