The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: Theoretical and Legal Analysis, International Practice, and Implementation Mechanisms

Author information:

Inna Spasybo-Fateyeva
Dr. Sc. (Law), Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Civil Law, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Kharkiv, Ukraine
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9852-1706

Tetiana Sahan
Master’s Student, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University , Kharkiv, Ukraine

Published: 23.03.2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.69724/2786-8834-2026-8-1-89-112

Keywords: right to be forgotten, privacy, personal data, freedom of expression, public interest, individual reintegration, digital memory

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Обкладинка. 8-й випуск

Abstract

The relevance of this study is обусловлена the rapid digitalization of social relations and the absence of a natural mechanism of forgetting in the digital environment, which results in the prolonged accessibility of personal information and an increased risk to private life, human dignity, and an individual’s ability to achieve social reintegration. This issue acquires particular significance in view of the need to balance the right to privacy with freedom of expression and the public interest. The purpose of the study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the right to be forgotten as an element of the system of personal non-property rights and to determine its legal nature, content, functional purpose, implementation mechanisms, and limits in the context of the digital age. The methodological framework of the research is based on general scientific and special legal methods, including the dialectical method, the formal-legal method, the systemic- structural method, the comparative legal method, as well as the method of analysis of judicial practice.Results. The study analyzes the transformation of the right to private life in the context of digitalization; examines the genesis and legal nature of the right to be forgotten; determines its place within the system of personal non-property rights; reveals the objective and subjective content of the right to be forgotten; analyzes its correlation with freedom of expression and the public interest; and explores the right to be forgotten as a temporal right and as a legal means of individual reintegration.Conclusions. The article may be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the fields of civil and information law, as well as to professionals dealing with personal data protection in the digital environment.

How to Cite

In accordance with DSTU 8302:2015:
Спасибо-Фатєєва І. Саган Т. Право на забуття в цифрову епоху: теоретико-правовий аналіз, міжнаодна практика та механізми реалізації. Цивілістична платформа. 2026. № 1 (8). С. 89-112. https://doi.org/10.69724/2786-8834-2026-8-1-89-112

According to the international style of APA:
Spasybo-Fateyeva, I., Sahan T. (2026) The Right to Be Forgotten in the Digital Age: Theoretical and Legal Analysis, International Practice, and Implementation Mechanisms. С. P. Journal, 1 (8). https://doi.org/10.69724/2786-8834-2026-8-1-89-112 [in Ukrainian].

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