A Bill on the Right to Be Forgotten Has Been filed

On November 25, 2022, a new bill was introduced in the National Congress aiming to regulate the right to be forgotten in search engines ("Bill"). The Bill seeks to regulate the deletion of personal information published on websites whose primary or secondary purpose is searching information in any format, and which affects the individuals’ rights to personal identity, privacy, image, or honor.

The most relevant aspects of the Bill are:

• It introduces the concept of "search engine websites".
• It releases providers of these services from the obligation of monitoring the posts made on their search engine websites and of conducting active searches related to unlawful activities.
• It sets a deadline of 10 working days for providers to proceed with the request for deletion of personal information or data.
• It establishes the conditions that must be met to verify an irreparable harm has occurred, legitimizing the applicant to request the deletion. These conditions include: (i) that there be certain and imminent harm to personal rights; (ii) that such harm is serious and/or urgent; and (iii) that the information subject to removal is false, misrepresented, adulterated, outdated or sensitive data (according to the Personal Data Protection Law No. 25,326).
• It establishes the duty of search engine website providers to implement accessible electronic forms to process requests for deleting information or personal data.
• It clarifies that, except for requiring proof of the applicant´s identity, the procedure must always be informal.
• It enables the judicial instance in case of lack of pronouncement, refusal, inaccurate or insufficient removal of the requested information by the provider of the search engine website. In this sense, it also allows the applicant to claim a compensation of between 25 and 75 minimum salaries (approximately USD 8,500 to 25,500 at the current exchange rate).
• It states that the removal of personal data must extend to all results returned by the search engine website including, if applicable and at the request of the applicant, the removal of results in other countries where the website operates.
• It states that it is the search engine website providers’ obligation to carry out the procedure and/or provide the IT resources that make the provisions of the Bill operational free of charge.

Finally, the Bill establishes that its provisions are not applicable to those individuals and/or companies whose actions imply a collective responsibility and/or of public and/or of social interest for citizens.