The Right to Be Forgotten: Does It Exist in the U.S.?

The "right to be forgotten" is a well-established European legal concept — but its status in the United States is far more limited and inconsistent, leading to real confusion about what Americans can actually request.

The European Origin of This Right

The right to be forgotten originated in EU law, giving individuals the right, under certain circumstances, to have search engines delist links to information about them and to have organizations delete personal data no longer necessary for its original purpose.

This right isn't absolute even in the EU — it's balanced against competing interests like freedom of expression and the public's right to information, and search engines and courts weigh these interests case by case.

The More Limited U.S. Approach

The U.S. has no single, comprehensive federal right to be forgotten; instead, deletion rights exist piecemeal through specific state privacy laws (like the CCPA's deletion right) and narrower laws addressing specific situations, such as certain state "eraser laws" allowing minors to remove content they posted.

First Amendment considerations also shape U.S. law differently than EU law, generally making it harder to compel removal of truthful, lawfully obtained information, particularly when it involves matters of public concern.

What U.S. Residents Can Actually Request

Depending on the state, residents may be able to request deletion of personal data held by a specific business under a state privacy law, though this generally applies to data the business itself collected, not to third-party publications or search results.

For content posted by others — news articles, court records, social media posts by other users — removal options are much more limited and typically require a separate legal basis, such as defamation or another specific claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I force Google to remove search results about me in the U.S.?

There's no general right to be forgotten in the U.S. the way there is in the EU; removal is possible in narrower circumstances, such as certain sensitive categories of content Google voluntarily removes upon request.

Do minors have special deletion rights for content they posted?

Some states have "eraser laws" giving minors the right to remove content they personally posted, though these are narrower than a general right to be forgotten.

The right to be forgotten works very differently in the U.S. than in Europe. An attorney can help you understand what deletion or removal options actually exist for your specific situation.