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PARALLEL TEXTS
L’avvocato generale Jääskinen considera che i fornitori di servizi di motore di ricerca non sono responsabili, ai sensi della direttiva sulla protezione dei dati, del fatto che nelle pagine web che essi trattano compaiano dati personali
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-77_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-77_it.htm
Data documento: 26-06-2013
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Advocate General Jääskinen considers that search engine service providers are not responsible, on the basis of the Data Protection Directive, for personal data appearing on web pages they process
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L’avvocato generale Jääskinen considera che i fornitori di servizi di motore di ricerca non sono responsabili, ai sensi della direttiva sulla protezione dei dati, del fatto che nelle pagine web che essi trattano compaiano dati personali
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National data protection legislation is applicable to them when they set up an office in a Member State which orientates its activity towards the inhabitants of that State, so as to promote and sell advertising space, even if the technical data processing takes place elsewhere
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La normativa nazionale sulla protezione dei dati è loro applicabile allorché aprono un ufficio in uno Stato membro la cui attività è rivolta verso gli abitanti di quello Stato, al fine di promuovere e vendere spazi pubblicitari, anche se il trattamento tecnico dei dati avviene altrove
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In early 1998, a newspaper widely circulated in Spain published in its printed edition two announcements concerning a real?estate auction connected with attachment proceedings prompted by social security debts.
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All’inizio del 1998, un giornale ad ampia diffusione in Spagna ha pubblicato nell’edizione cartacea due annunci riguardanti un’asta immobiliare collegata ad un procedimento esecutivo derivante da debiti contratti con il sistema previdenziale.
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A person was mentioned as the owner.
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Una persona era menzionata quale proprietaria degli immobili.
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At a later date an electronic version of the newspaper was made available online by its publisher.
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Successivamente, l’editore aveva pubblicato la versione elettronica del giornale.
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In November 2009 this person contacted the publisher of the newspaper asserting that, when his name and surnames were entered in the Google search engine, a reference appeared linking to pages of the newspaper with these announcements.
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Nel novembre 2009 la persona interessata ha contattato l’editore del giornale facendo valere che, inserendo il suo nome e cognome nel motore di ricerca Google, compariva un riferimento che rinviava alle pagine del giornale contenenti quegli annunci.
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He argued that the proceedings had been concluded and resolved many years earlier and were now of no relevance.
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Affermava che il procedimento si era concluso e risolto da vari anni e che attualmente era irrilevante.
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The publisher replied that erasure of his data was not appropriate, given that the publication was effected by order of the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
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L’editore ribatteva che non era appropriato eliminare i dati che riguardavano l’interessato, in quanto la pubblicazione era stata fatta per ordine del Ministero del Lavoro e della Previdenza sociale spagnolo.
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In February 2010, he contacted Google Spain and requested that the search results show no links to the newspaper when his name and surnames were entered into Google search engine.
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Nel febbraio 2010 la persona in questione ha contattato Google Spain e ha chiesto che, in caso di inserimento del suo nome e cognome nel motore di ricerca Google, i risultati della ricerca non mostrassero i link verso il giornale.
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Google Spain forwarded the request to Google Inc., whose registered office is in California, United States, taking the view that the latter was the undertaking providing the internet search service.
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Google Spain ha inoltrato la richiesta a Google Inc., la cui sede sociale è in California (Stati Uniti), considerando che quest’ultima fosse l’impresa fornitrice del servizio di ricerca Internet.
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Thereafter he lodged a complaint with the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Spanish Data Protection Agency, AEPD) against the publisher and Google.
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Successivamente, l’interessato ha presentato reclamo alla Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Autorità spagnola per la protezione dei dati, «AEPD») contro l’editore e Google.
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By a decision on 30 July 2010, the Director of the AEPD upheld the complaint against Google Spain and Google Inc., calling on them to withdraw the data from their index and to render future access to them impossible.
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Con decisione del 30 luglio 2010 il direttore della AEPD ha accolto il reclamo contro Google Spain e Google Inc., ingiungendo loro di ritirare i dati dal loro indice e di rendere impossibile in futuro l’accesso agli stessi.
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The complaint against the publisher was rejected, however, because publication of the data in the press was legally justified.
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Il reclamo contro l’editore è stato invece respinto, in quanto la pubblicazione sulla stampa era legalmente giustificata.
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Google Inc. and Google Spain have brought two appeals before the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court, Spain), seeking annulment of the AEPD decision.
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Google Inc.e Google Spain hanno allora proposto impugnazione dinanzi alla Audiencia Nacional (Alta Corte nazionale, Spagna), chiedendo l’annullamento della decisione della AEPD.
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In this context, this Spanish court has referred a series of questions to the Court of Justice.
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In tale contesto i giudici spagnoli hanno sottoposto una serie di questioni alla Corte di giustizia.
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In today’s Opinion, Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen addresses first the question of the territorial scope of the application of national data protection legislation.
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Nelle conclusioni odierne, l’avvocato generale Niilo Jääskinen affronta anzitutto la questione dell’ambito territoriale di applicazione della normativa nazionale in materia di protezione dei dati .
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The primary factor that gives rise to its application is the processing of personal data carried out in the context of the activities of an establishment of the controller on the territory of the Member State.
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L’elemento fondamentale che dà luogo alla sua applicazione consiste nel trattamento di dati personali effettuato nel contesto delle attività di uno stabilimento del responsabile del trattamento nel territorio dello Stato membro.
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However, Google claims that no processing of personal data relating to its search engine takes place in Spain. Google Spain acts merely as commercial representative of Google for its advertising functions.
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Google sostiene tuttavia che in Spagna non avviene alcun trattamento di dati personali correlato al suo motore di ricerca, in quanto Google Spain agisce unicamente quale rappresentante commerciale di Google per le sue funzioni pubblicitarie.
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In this capacity it has taken responsibility for the processing of personal data relating to its Spanish advertising customers.
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In tale qualità Google Spain ha assunto la responsabilità per il trattamento di dati personali riguardo ai suoi clienti spagnoli di pubblicità.
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The Advocate General considers that this question should be examined taking into account the business model of internet search engine providers.
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L’avvocato generale considera che tale questione debba essere esaminata prendendo in considerazione il modello di attività imprenditoriale dei fornitori di un motore di ricerca su Internet.
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This normally relies on keyword advertising which is the source of income and the reason for the provision of a free information location tool.
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Esso normalmente si fonda sulla pubblicità mediante parole chiave che è la fonte di reddito e la ragione per fornire uno strumento gratuito di localizzazione dell’informazione.
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The entity in charge of keyword advertising is linked to the internet search engine.
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L’entità che si occupa della pubblicità mediante parole chiave è collegata al motore di ricerca su Internet.
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This entity needs a presence on national advertising markets and that is why Google has established subsidiaries in many Member States.
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Essa ha necessità di una presenza nei mercati pubblicitari nazionali e per tale ragione Google ha creato delle società controllate in vari Stati membri.
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Hence, in his view, it must be considered that an establishment processes personal data if it is linked to a service involved in selling targeted advertising to inhabitants of a Member State, even if the technical data processing operations are situated in other Member States or third countries.
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Perciò, a parere dell’avvocato generale, si deve considerare che uno stabilimento tratta dati personali se è collegato ad un servizio coinvolto nella vendita di pubblicità mirata agli abitanti di uno Stato membro, anche se le operazioni tecniche di trattamento dei dati avvengono in altri Stati membri o in paesi terzi.
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Therefore, Mr Jääskinen proposes that the Court declare that processing of personal data takes place within the context of a controller’s establishment and, therefore, that national data protection legislation is applicable to a search engine provider when it sets up in a Member State, for the promotion and sale of advertising space on the search engine, an office which orientates its activity towards the inhabitants of that State.
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Pertanto, l’avvocato generale Jääskinen propone alla Corte di dichiarare che il trattamento di dati personali avviene nel contesto di uno stabilimento del responsabile del trattamento: e pertanto, la normativa nazionale in materia di protezione dei dati è applicabile ad un fornitore di un motore di ricerca che apre in uno Stato membro, per la promozione e la vendita di spazi pubblicitari nel motore di ricerca, un ufficio che orienta la sua attività nei confronti degli abitanti di tale Stato.
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Secondly, as for the legal position of Google as an internet search engine provider, Mr Jääskinen recalls that, when the Directive was adopted in 1995, the Internet and search engines were new phenomena and their current development was not foreseen by the Community legislator.
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In secondo luogo, per quanto attiene alla posizione di Google in qualità di fornitore di un motore di ricerca su Internet, l’avvocato generale Jääskinen ricorda che, allorché la direttiva è stata adottata nel 1995, Internet e i motori di ricerca erano fenomeni nuovi e il legislatore comunitario non poteva prevedere il loro attuale sviluppo.
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He takes the view that Google is not generally to be considered as a ‘controller’ of the personal data appearing on web pages it processes, who, according to the Directive, would be responsible for compliance with data protection rules.
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Secondo l’avvocato generale, Google non va considerato come «responsabile del trattamento» dei dati personali che compaiono nelle pagine web che tratta , soggetto che, ai sensi della direttiva, risponde del rispetto delle norme in materia di protezione dei dati.
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In effect, provision of an information location tool does not imply any control over the content included on third party web pages. It does not even enable the internet search engine provider to distinguish between personal data in the sense of the Directive, which relates to an identifiable living natural person, and other data.
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Infatti, fornire uno strumento per la localizzazione dell’informazione non implica alcun controllo sui contenuti presenti nelle pagine web di terzi e non mette neppure il fornitore del motore di ricerca in condizione di distinguere tra i dati personali secondo la direttiva (che si riferisce ad una persona fisica vivente e identificabile) e gli altri dati.
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In his opinion, the internet search engine provider cannot in law or in fact fulfil the obligations of the controller provided in the Directive in relation to personal data on source web pages hosted on third party servers.
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A parere dell’avvocato generale, il fornitore di un motore di ricerca non può, giuridicamente o concretamente, ottemperare agli obblighi del responsabile del trattamento previsti nella direttiva relativamente ai dati personali contenuti nelle pagine web sorgente, albergate su server di terzi.
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Therefore, a national data protection authority cannot require an internet search engine service provider to withdraw information from its index except in cases where this service provider has not complied with the exclusion codes or where a request emanating from a website regarding an update of cache memory has not been complied with.
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Pertanto, un’autorità nazionale per la protezione dei dati non può imporre ad un fornitore di servizi di motore di ricerca su Internet di eliminare informazioni dal suo indice, tranne nei casi in cui tale fornitore non abbia rispettato i «codici di esclusione» o non si sia conformato ad una richiesta proveniente dal sito web concernente un aggiornamento della memoria cache.
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This scenario does not seem pertinent in the present case.
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Tale ipotesi non appaiono pertinenti nella fattispecie in esame.
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A possible ‘notice and take down procedure’ concerning links to source web pages with illegal or inappropriate content is a matter for national civil liability law based on grounds other than data protection.
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Un’eventuale procedura di «notifica e rimozione» riguardante link verso pagine web sorgente a contenuto illecito o inappropriato è una questione di diritto nazionale in materia di responsabilità per danni fondata su motivi diversi dalla protezione dei dati.
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Thirdly, the Directive does not establish a general ‘right to be forgotten’.
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In terzo luogo, la direttiva non istituisce un «diritto all’oblio» generalizzato.
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Such a right cannot therefore be invoked against search engine service providers on the basis of the Directive, even when it is interpreted in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
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Questo non può pertanto essere fatto valere nei confronti di fornitori di servizi di motore di ricerca fondandosi sulla direttiva, neppure con un’interpretazione alla luce della Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione europea .
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The rights to rectification, erasure and blocking of data provided in the Directive concern data whose processing does not comply with the provisions of the Directive, in particular because of the incomplete or inaccurate nature of the data.
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I diritti di rettifica, eliminazione e blocco dei dati, previsti dalla direttiva, riguardano i dati il cui trattamento non sia conforme alle disposizioni della stessa, soprattutto a motivo della loro incompletezza o inaccuratezza.
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This does not seem to be the case in the current proceedings.
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Non sembra essere questo il caso nel presente procedimento.
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The Directive also grants any person the right to object at any time, on compelling legitimate grounds relating to his particular situation, to the processing of data relating to him, save as otherwise provided by national legislation.
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La direttiva accorda anche a ogni individuo il diritto ad opporsi, in qualsiasi momento, per motivi preminenti e legittimi, derivanti dalla sua situazione particolare, al trattamento di dati che lo riguardano, salvo disposizione contraria della normativa nazionale.
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However, the Advocate General considers that a subjective preference alone does not amount to a compelling legitimate ground and thus the Directive does not entitle a person to restrict or terminate dissemination of personal data that he considers to be harmful or contrary to his interests.
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Tuttavia l’avvocato generale considera che la sola preferenza soggettiva non integri un motivo preminente e legittimo e che quindi la direttiva non conferisca ad un individuo il diritto di limitare o far cessare la diffusione di dati personali che egli consideri dannosi o contrari ai suoi interessi.
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It is possible that the secondary liability of the search engine service providers under national law may lead to duties amounting to blocking access to third party websites with illegal content such as web pages infringing intellectual property rights or displaying libellous or criminal information.
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È possibile che la responsabilità indiretta dei fornitori di servizi di motore di ricerca in base alla normativa nazionale possa condurre a doveri consistenti nel bloccare l’accesso a siti web di terzi a contenuto illecito, quali pagine web che violano diritti di proprietà intellettuale o che mostrano informazioni diffamatorie o illegali.
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In contrast, requesting search engine service providers to suppress legitimate and legal information that has entered the public domain would entail an interference with the freedom of expression of the publisher of the web page.
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Per contro, esigere che i fornitori di servizi di motore di ricerca eliminino informazioni legittime e legali che sono divenute di pubblico dominio comporterebbe un’ingerenza nella libertà di espressione dell’editore della pagina web.
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In his view, it would amount to censorship of his published content by a private party.
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A parere dell’avvocato generale ciò equivarrebbe ad una censura, ad opera di un privato, del contenuto pubblicato dall’editore.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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The Advocate General’s Opinion is not binding on the Court of Justice.
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Le conclusioni dell'avvocato generale non vincolano la Corte di giustizia.
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It is the role of the Advocates General to propose to the Court, in complete independence, a legal solution to the cases for which they are responsible.
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Il compito dell'avvocato generale consiste nel proporre alla Corte, in piena indipendenza, una soluzione giuridica nella causa per la quale è stato designato.
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The Judges of the Court are now beginning their deliberations in this case.
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I giudici della Corte cominciano adesso a deliberare in questa causa.
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Judgment will be given at a later date.
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La sentenza sarà pronunciata in una data successiva.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law or the validity of a European Union act.
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Il rinvio pregiudiziale consente ai giudici degli Stati membri, nell'ambito di una controversia della quale sono investiti, di interpellare la Corte in merito all’interpretazione del diritto dell’Unione o alla validità di un atto dell’Unione.
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The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
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La Corte non risolve la controversia nazionale.
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It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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Spetta al giudice nazionale risolvere la causa conformemente alla decisione della Corte. Tale decisione vincola egualmente gli altri giudici nazionali ai quali venga sottoposto un problema simile.
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
Advocate General Jääskinen considers that search engine service providers
are not responsible, on the basis of the Data Protection Directive, for personal
data appearing on web pages they process
National data protection legislation is applicable to them when they
set up an office in a Member State which orientates its activity towards the
inhabitants of that State, so as to promote and sell advertising space, even if
the technical data processing takes place elsewhere
In early 1998, a newspaper widely circulated in Spain published in its
printed edition two announcements concerning a real?estate auction connected
with attachment proceedings prompted by social security debts.
A person was mentioned as the owner.
At a later date an electronic version of the newspaper was made
available online by its publisher.
In November 2009 this person contacted the publisher of the newspaper
asserting that, when his name and surnames were entered in the Google search
engine, a reference appeared linking to pages of the newspaper with these
announcements.
He argued that the proceedings had been concluded and resolved many
years earlier and were now of no relevance.
The publisher replied that erasure of his data was not appropriate,
given that the publication was effected by order of the Spanish Ministry of
Labour and Social Affairs.
In February 2010, he contacted Google Spain and requested that the
search results show no links to the newspaper when his name and surnames were
entered into Google search engine.
Google Spain forwarded the request to Google Inc., whose registered
office is in California, United States, taking the view that the latter was the
undertaking providing the internet search service.
Thereafter he lodged a complaint with the Agencia Española de
Protección de Datos (Spanish Data Protection Agency, AEPD) against the publisher
and Google.
By a decision on 30 July 2010, the Director of the AEPD upheld the
complaint against Google Spain and Google Inc., calling on them to withdraw the
data from their index and to render future access to them impossible.
The complaint against the publisher was rejected, however, because
publication of the data in the press was legally justified.
Google Inc. and Google Spain have brought two appeals before the
Audiencia Nacional (National High Court, Spain), seeking annulment of the AEPD
decision.
In this context, this Spanish court has referred a series of questions
to the Court of Justice.
In today’s Opinion, Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen addresses first
the question of the territorial scope of the application of national data
protection legislation.
The primary factor that gives rise to its application is the processing
of personal data carried out in the context of the activities of an
establishment of the controller on the territory of the Member State.
However, Google claims that no processing of personal data relating to
its search engine takes place in Spain. Google Spain acts merely as commercial
representative of Google for its advertising functions.
In this capacity it has taken responsibility for the processing of
personal data relating to its Spanish advertising customers.
The Advocate General considers that this question should be examined
taking into account the business model of internet search engine providers.
This normally relies on keyword advertising which is the source of
income and the reason for the provision of a free information location tool.
The entity in charge of keyword advertising is linked to the internet
search engine.
This entity needs a presence on national advertising markets and that is why
Google has established subsidiaries in many Member States.
Hence, in his view, it must be considered that an establishment
processes personal data if it is linked to a service involved in selling
targeted advertising to inhabitants of a Member State, even if the technical
data processing operations are situated in other Member States or third
countries.
Therefore, Mr Jääskinen proposes that the Court declare that processing
of personal data takes place within the context of a controller’s establishment
and, therefore, that national data protection legislation is applicable to a
search engine provider when it sets up in a Member State, for the promotion and
sale of advertising space on the search engine, an office which orientates its
activity towards the inhabitants of that State.
Secondly, as for the legal position of Google as an internet search
engine provider, Mr Jääskinen recalls that, when the Directive was adopted in
1995, the Internet and search engines were new phenomena and their current
development was not foreseen by the Community legislator.
He takes the view that Google is not generally to be considered as a
‘controller’ of the personal data appearing on web pages it processes, who,
according to the Directive, would be responsible for compliance with data
protection rules.
In effect, provision of an information location tool does not imply any
control over the content included on third party web pages. It does not even
enable the internet search engine provider to distinguish between personal data
in the sense of the Directive, which relates to an identifiable living natural
person, and other data.
In his opinion, the internet search engine provider cannot in law or in fact
fulfil the obligations of the controller provided in the Directive in relation
to personal data on source web pages hosted on third party servers.
Therefore, a national data protection authority cannot require an
internet search engine service provider to withdraw information from its index
except in cases where this service provider has not complied with the exclusion
codes or where a request emanating from a website regarding an update of cache
memory has not been complied with.
This scenario does not seem pertinent in the present case.
A possible ‘notice and take down procedure’ concerning links to source
web pages with illegal or inappropriate content is a matter for national civil
liability law based on grounds other than data protection.
Thirdly, the Directive does not establish a general ‘right to be
forgotten’.
Such a right cannot therefore be invoked against search engine service
providers on the basis of the Directive, even when it is interpreted in
accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The rights to rectification, erasure and blocking of data provided in
the Directive concern data whose processing does not comply with the provisions
of the Directive, in particular because of the incomplete or inaccurate nature
of the data.
This does not seem to be the case in the current proceedings.
The Directive also grants any person the right to object at any time,
on compelling legitimate grounds relating to his particular situation, to the
processing of data relating to him, save as otherwise provided by national
legislation.
However, the Advocate General considers that a subjective preference
alone does not amount to a compelling legitimate ground and thus the Directive
does not entitle a person to restrict or terminate dissemination of personal
data that he considers to be harmful or contrary to his interests.
It is possible that the secondary liability of the search engine
service providers under national law may lead to duties amounting to blocking
access to third party websites with illegal content such as web pages infringing
intellectual property rights or displaying libellous or criminal information.
In contrast, requesting search engine service providers to suppress
legitimate and legal information that has entered the public domain would entail
an interference with the freedom of expression of the publisher of the web page.
In his view, it would amount to censorship of his published content by
a private party.
NOTE:
The Advocate General’s Opinion is not binding on the Court of Justice.
It is the role of the Advocates General to propose to the Court, in
complete independence, a legal solution to the cases for which they are
responsible.
The Judges of the Court are now beginning their deliberations in this
case.
Judgment will be given at a later date.
NOTE:
A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of
the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer
questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law
or the validity of a European Union act.
The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in
accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other
national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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