The plaintiff, who never used the services of the defendant, through family members became aware of the existence of a profile under her name which contained personal information about her. She brought the case to the lower court of her residence, in the countryside of the state of São Paulo. She asked for the immediate removal of the fake profile, the disclosure of the Internet Protocol address related to its creation, and damages. The lower court granted both the former, but awarded the plaintiff no damages. Both parties appealed the decision. The Appellate Court found in favor of the plaintiff's appeal, and denied the defendant's. In the decision, the justices held that the indemnity of the defendant is contrary to the system of consumer defense set forth by the Constitution and by the Consumer Defense and...
The main Right to be Forgotten case, currently in debate in the Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal, is the litigation between Nelson Curi and the major broadcaster in the country, Rede Globo. Although the case does not involve an internet intermediary, it is extremely relevant as it may set a basis for the recognition of a “right to be forgotten” in the country against traditional media companies, with possible consequences to search engines and internet intermediaries. In this case, the family of Aida Curi (Nelson Curi and others) filed a lawsuit against the broadcaster claiming damages for the airing of TV program about a crime (the homicide of Aida Curi) which occurred many decades before. The plaintiffs claim that the continuous exposure of the case forces them to remember painful facts, and they seek payment of...
The Plaintiff requested the removal of a publication available on the defendant’s websites informing about him being kidnapped in 1990. This old piece of information was only recently republished. The judge ruled that it was a mere reproduction of a journalistic case widely divulged at the time of the crime. Additionally, the publication focused on the 30th birthday of the television company and not the Plaintiff's case. Therefore, the Court did not enforce any right to be forgotten.
The Plaintiff requested the deletion of Google search results indexing old publications about his involvement in a flagrante arrest for alleged unauthorized practice of medicine. As the falsehood of the publication was not proved, the judge ruled that the publicity of the story should not be considered harmful to the Plaintiff’s honour and image. The delisting would have been contrary to the public right to access historical journalistic publications, hence the right to be forgotten has not been enforced. Additionally, the delisting of the search results does not prevent direct access to the origìnal source at the website where it is published.
The Plaintiff sought the delisting of search engines results mentioning his name as one involved with tax crimes committed by a mafia organization. As the Plaintiff did not present any evidence regarding the falsehood of the publications, the judge rejected the request. In this case, the Court noted that the collective and public right to access information should prevail over the individual right to be forgotten.
The Plaintiff requested the suppression of information available on a legal website regarding a labor suit he filed. The website was listed on Google search. The Plaintiff alleged that the labor suit might have been a reason making hard for him to be hired by other companies. The judge considered that the publicity of decisions by the court is based on the principle of transparency. The interest in maintaining case-law registers and the publicity of the decisions shall prevail over the Plaintiff’s interests, once it does not affect his private life, honour, image or other personality rights. Hence, the judge did not apply he right to be forgotten.