Belgian DPA imposes a €600,000 fine on Google Belgium for non-compliance with right to be forgotten
On 14 July 2020, the Belgian DPA imposed a fine of EUR600,000 on Google Belgium SA/NV (Google Belgium) for not respecting a Belgian resident’s right to be forgotten. This is the highest fine ever imposed by the Belgian DPA.
The complainant, an executive at an unnamed large company, had requested the removal of 12 URLs which he considered to be harmful to his reputation. These URLs concerned, on the one hand, search results regarding alleged links with a certain political party, and on the other hand, a harassment complaint declared unfounded in 2010. As Google had refused to remove several of the concerned links, the complainant referred the case to the Belgian DPA.
