The Right to (Not) Be Forgotten, Right to Know, and Model of Four Categories of the Right to Be Forgotten

Abstract Both at the level of the most basic civil and democratic rights declared at the constitutional level and specifically in the field of archiving, there has long been a fundamental tension between two principles: On the one hand, it is the right to the protection of personality, privacy, and the private sphere, specifically expressed also in the form of the right to protection of personal data and restriction of their disclosure. On the other hand, there is the right of access to information, freedom of inquiry, and similar rights, which can be summarised under the common denominator of the right to know. This dichotomy, in a specific and in a way analogous sense, is also at the level of the relationship between the right to be forgotten and, conversely, the right to be remembered and not forgotten.

Encounters and, in many cases, clashes between these two principles on both levels of meaning have changed in recent years and have intensified, including in court decisions. What implications does it have for archiving, for the creation and preservation of collective memory in society, and for the relationship to one’s own history? What are the implications of the current development of the legal order for the archival sector, within the European Union, especially in connection with the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), specifically at the level of the application of the right to be forgotten as one of the new rights of the European citizen, which, however, has much deeper and older roots than the existence of the GDPR?

How does the newly established right to be forgotten manifest in the field of archiving? What impacts and potential risks can be expected when applying this newly formed right of (not only) the European citizen to archival practice? This chapter will seek answers to the above questions.

The chapter will include the presentation of the author’s concept of a model of the four categories of the right to be forgotten, applicable mainly in the field of records management and archiving, but also in a wide range of scientific disciplines.