{"id":367090,"date":"2026-07-09T19:18:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=367090"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:18:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T13:48:06","slug":"what-is-the-right-to-be-forgotten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/what-is-the-right-to-be-forgotten\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the right to be forgotten?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: <\/strong>The post \u201cWhat is the right to be forgotten? | Explained\u201d<\/strong> has been created based on “What is the right to be forgotten?\u201d <\/strong>published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 9th July 2026.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus:<\/strong> GS 2 \u2013 Polity & Governance<\/p>\n

Context:<\/strong> The Right to be Forgotten (RTBF)<\/strong> is the right of an individual to have personal information erased or de-indexed from the public digital space when its continued availability causes harm and no longer serves a legitimate public interest. The recent Delhi High Court judgment (Laksh Vir Singh Yadav v. Union of India, 2026)<\/strong> has laid down a structured framework for balancing privacy with open justice and freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

About the Right to be Forgotten<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. The Right to be Forgotten allows individuals to seek the removal or de-indexing of personal information from digital platforms when its continued accessibility violates their privacy and dignity.<\/li>\n
  2. The concept gained global recognition after the 2014 European Court of Justice judgment in the Mario Costeja Gonz\u00e1lez case<\/strong>, which later became part of Article 17 of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Evolution in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. The Supreme Court in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017)<\/strong> recognised privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21<\/strong>, including the right to informational privacy.<\/li>\n
    2. Different High Courts adopted varying approaches regarding anonymisation and removal of personal information due to the absence of a uniform legal framework.<\/li>\n
    3. The recent Delhi High Court judgment attempts to provide such a framework.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Key Features of the Delhi High Court Judgment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
        \n
      1. The Court held that the Right to be Forgotten flows from Article 21<\/strong>, which guarantees dignity and informational privacy.<\/li>\n
      2. The Court introduced a proportionality test<\/strong>, requiring that retention of information must serve a legitimate purpose and that privacy harm must be balanced against public interest.<\/li>\n
      3. The Court preferred masking or redaction of parties’ names<\/strong> instead of deleting entire judicial records.<\/li>\n
      4. The Court directed legal databases to comply with such orders within two weeks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
      5. The judgment clarified that judicial records would remain accessible through case numbers or keyword searches, while restricting name-based searches.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Significance of the Judgment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
          \n
        1. The judgment strengthens the constitutional right to privacy and protects individuals from long-term digital harm.<\/li>\n
        2. It balances privacy with the principles of open justice and freedom of speech.<\/li>\n
        3. It protects individuals who have been acquitted or whose disputes have been settled from continuing social stigma.<\/li>\n
        4. It establishes a structured legal framework for handling future RTBF cases.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n
            \n
          1. Balancing Fundamental Rights: <\/strong>The Right to be Forgotten may conflict with Article 19(1)(a)<\/strong>, which guarantees freedom of speech and the public’s right to know.<\/li>\n
          2. Enforcement Difficulties: <\/strong>Information may continue to appear through mirror websites, archives, cached pages, and social media despite court orders.<\/li>\n
          3. Search Engine Limitations:<\/strong> De-indexing removes search results but does not permanently erase the original content from the internet.<\/li>\n
          4. Inadequate Legal Framework: <\/strong>The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023<\/strong> provides only a limited right to erasure based on consent and does not specifically address judicial records or public archives.<\/li>\n
          5. Institutional Gaps: <\/strong>The Data Protection Board is not fully operational, and the DPDP Rules are yet to be notified, limiting effective implementation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n
              \n
            1. A comprehensive legal framework should clearly define the scope and limits of the Right to be Forgotten.<\/li>\n
            2. The DPDP Act should be strengthened to explicitly cover judicial records and digital archives where appropriate.<\/li>\n
            3. The Data Protection Board should be made fully functional to ensure timely and transparent decision-making.<\/li>\n
            4. A tiered mechanism should be adopted, where routine requests are handled by digital platforms, disputed cases by the Data Protection Board, and judicial matters by courts.<\/li>\n
            5. Stronger coordination among courts, search engines, legal databases, and social media platforms should be established to ensure effective compliance.<\/li>\n
            6. The Supreme Court should provide authoritative guidelines to ensure uniform implementation across the country.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Conclusion:<\/strong> The Delhi High Court judgment marks a significant step in protecting informational privacy while preserving open justice and freedom of expression. However, effective implementation will require a robust legal framework, operational institutions, technological cooperation, and clear judicial guidance to ensure that the Right to be Forgotten becomes a meaningful constitutional safeguard rather than merely a declaratory right.<\/p>\n

              Question<\/strong>: What is the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF)? Discuss the recent Delhi High Court judgment on the Right to be Forgotten, its significance, challenges, and the way forward.<\/p>\n

              Source: <\/strong>The Hindu<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Source: The post \u201cWhat is the right to be forgotten? | Explained\u201d has been created based on “What is the right to be forgotten?\u201d published in \u201cThe Hindu\u201d on 9th July 2026. UPSC Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Polity & Governance Context: The Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) is the right of an individual to have… Continue reading What is the right to be forgotten?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230],"tags":[212,225,10498],"class_list":["post-367090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-polity","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367090\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}