Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo

Sommario

1. Premessa. – 2. Genesi ed evoluzione giurisprudenziale dell’istituto. – 3. Il “nuovo” diritto all’oblio: struttura e fondamento costituzionale. – 4. Alcune ipotesi normative di diritto all’oblio: la legge sul trattamento dei dati personali ed i dati sensibili trattati dai soggetti pubblici. – 5. Altri settori di interesse: ambito storico, scientifico e statistico. – 6. Ambito sanitario e cancellazione dei dati per il decorso del tempo. – 7. Il diritto all’oblio e la sua forza pervasiva. – 8. Le droit à l’oubli. – 9. La privacy storica nell’esperienza americana. – 10. La difficile convivenza tra memoria ed oblio.

Abstract

Does the “right to forget” i.e. the right to not to remember unpleasant events concerning one’s life exist in our legal system? In this article, the author underlines how this institute first conceived as the “right to secrecy from dishonour” developed – through the decisions of the courts – into a particular aspect of the right to privacy. Over the years it became a separate right and assumedparticular characteristics. Traces of this “traditional right to privacy” can be found in certain laws such as those concerning the handling of personal data. The author also considers foreign legal systems with particular regard for France and the United States. In France this right is similar to one in Italy while in the United States it is difficult to determine a right to forget because of the difficulty in balancing it with other rights that are considered more important. Having described the characteristics of this right, the author then underlines how even if the “right to forget” is considered as being an autonomous right this does not mean that the “right to remember” has less relevance. However technological development has effected these two opposing rights in very different ways. These rights have become more vulnerable as they are related to the concept of human dignity and they are therefore an instrument for testing how civil a population actually is.