Article 17 GDPR : The Right to Erasure and Lawful Exceptions

The 6 Lawful Grounds for Erasure (Art. 17.1 GDPR)

The controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

• The personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;
• The data subject withdraws consent on which the processing is based (Art. 6.1.a or 9.2.a) and there is no other legal ground for the processing;
• The data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) and there are no overriding legitimate grounds, or objects to direct marketing (Art. 21.2);
• The personal data have been unlawfully processed;
• The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law;
• The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services directly to a child (Art. 8.1).

Case Law Update: CJEU C-199/24 Legal Newsdesk Sweden

The Legal Newsdesk Sweden ruling affirms that the reconciliation between erasure and freedom of expression cannot simply be presumed for commercial database publishing of criminal court decisions. Qualification as processing for journalistic purposes depends on concrete characteristics, including genuine editorial processing and factual verification.

Where such commercial activity does not fall under the Article 85 exemption, all standard GDPR safeguards and remedies remain applicable. An erasure request must nevertheless be assessed in light of the specific processing regime and Article 17 conditions; the judgment does not create an automatic right to erasure.

Statutory Exemptions and Grounds for Refusal (Art. 17.3 GDPR)

The right to erasure is not absolute. Article 17(3) provides 5 strict exceptions where a request for erasure must lawfully be refused:

• For exercising the right of freedom of expression and information;
• For compliance with a legal obligation under Union or Member State law (e.g., statutory accounting or tax retention duties);
• For reasons of public interest in the area of public health (Art. 9.2.h/i);
• For archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes (Art. 89);
• For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Verified Official Sources

See Also in the Legal Framework