Professional and commercial decisions begin with an Internet search, and online reputation is essential for entrepreneurs and professionals. The information that appears when searching for a name or brand can decisively influence the trust of clients, partners, investors, banks or potential collaborators. Below, in the following article, we explain in detail how the right to be forgotten works for entrepreneurs and professionals, our experience and advice, so that we can help you in the best possible way.
Why is the right to be forgotten important for entrepreneurs and professionals?
For an entrepreneur or a professional, reputation is not built only through work, recommendations or technical quality. Today, it is also built —and sometimes destroyed— on the Internet. Before hiring, trusting a professional, investing in a company or closing a commercial transaction, many people search for a name on the Internet in search of trust, reputation and positive reviews. That simple search can influence an important decision. If the results show a serious and professional image, they generate trust.
However, if news, conflicts, trials, publications or negative references appear that do not reflect reality, the impact is immediate. For this reason, the right to be forgotten for entrepreneurs and professionals is not only about privacy, but about protecting the credibility, economic activity and reputation associated with the name of a person who carries out a professional or business activity. Without a doubt, online reputation directly influences economic activity.
Online reputation directly influences business
In practice, digital reputation increasingly influences turnover, and both local and international trade. A potential client may decide not to call. A supplier may be reluctant, and a collaborator may prefer to work with another company. Even a negotiation may cool down after a simple online search. This happens more often than it seems. Today, the first impression is often made on a screen.
When a person searches for the name of an entrepreneur or professional and finds negative results or reviews, they may assume or conclude —even wrongly— that the person is not trustworthy. And in business, where trust is the first condition, that perception creates doubts. Therefore, protecting the online reputation of entrepreneurs and professionals is not a secondary issue. In many cases, it forms part of the commercial strategy itself.
The professional name is another asset
A few years ago, a person’s name had value in professional circles or within a specific sector. Today, it also has value on the Internet. The name of an entrepreneur, director or professional works as a personal brand. When someone searches for that name online, they are not only looking for information, but for signs of trust. They want to know who they are going to work with, who is behind a company or what experience the person they are going to contract with has. For this reason, a professional name on the Internet and a well-managed digital presence can open doors and also create opportunities —and, where applicable, show solvency. On the other hand, negative results have the opposite effect.
A negative result can affect clients, investors, partners and banks
Some negative results can be sensitive when they affect the name of a person linked to an economic activity. An investor may have doubts if they find negative references about the director of a company. A bank may investigate and look for references before a financing operation. A commercial partner may impose different or disadvantageous conditions before starting a collaboration if they find bad news. In many cases, we are not even talking about false information. Sometimes it is old, incomplete content or content that no longer represents the situation of the person concerned. However, it still influences present decisions. For this reason, removing negative results for entrepreneurs and professionals can be a legitimate and necessary measure to avoid disproportionate harm.
Regularly checking what appears when searching for your own name, detecting harmful content and acting in time can prevent serious damage. In an environment where trust is decided in seconds, digital reputation deserves the same attention as any other part of the business. Professional prestige takes years to build. On the Internet, sometimes one search is enough to put it at risk.
Which entrepreneurs and professionals can be affected?
In practice, any person whose activity depends on their name, their reputation or the trust they inspire may be harmed by negative results on the Internet. This also applies to large companies and public figures. For this reason, all entrepreneurs and professionals need to protect their online reputation, especially when their identity is linked to a sector and an economic activity. Below, we explain some profiles that are particularly exposed.
Company directors and executives
Directors, managers, CEOs and executives are often especially exposed because their name appears linked to the company they represent. In most commercial transactions, investors, clients or banks do not only analyse the company, but also the people leading it. When a search for the director’s name shows negative or harmful results, it directly affects the perception of the company.
💡 Common examples: A director appears linked to an old corporate dispute that was resolved years ago. The name of an executive still appears connected to a company they no longer manage. A CEO appears in news about financial difficulties. A manager is mentioned in a court procedure that was dismissed. These cases affect the corporate image, trust and reputation.
Entrepreneurs and partners of family businesses or SMEs
In small and medium-sized enterprises —SMEs— the name of the founder or partner is closely linked to the business, and sometimes they even have the same name. The company and the person are perceived as one and the same. This means that any negative content about the entrepreneur directly affects sales, commercial relationships and the expansion of the business outside the local market, where they may be less known.
💡 Common examples: The partner of an SME is still linked to news about a debt. The founder of a family business appears in forums with old comments that no longer reflect reality, because the founder sold the company.
In these types of cases, protecting the entrepreneur’s digital reputation protects the company’s reputation.
Liberal professionals
Liberal professionals depend, more than other professions, on trust. When someone needs a doctor, an architect, a consultant or a veterinarian, they usually look for references —word of mouth or digital— before hiring. Digital presence, and a good brand, influence professional prestige. Some common examples of digital issues online may be the following.
💡 Common examples: A lawyer appears linked to a bad case. A doctor finds negative results based on outdated information. An architect still appears connected to a company they left. A consultant is mentioned in a forum with old accusations. A financial adviser sees their name associated with news from a different professional period.
A simple doubt can make the client go to another professional.
Entrepreneurs and professionals with a personal brand
More and more entrepreneurs work based on their own name. Trainers, coaches, designers, real estate agents, photographers, therapists or consultants. In these cases, the personal name is the commercial brand, and therefore the connection is very close.
💡 Common examples: A freelance consultant appears linked to an old claim that has already been resolved. An independent designer is connected to negative publications from many years ago. A professional coach sees their name associated with satirical or harmful content. A photographer loses clients because, when people search for their name, past conflicts appear.
When the business depends on the person’s own name, reputation directly influences income.
⚠️ If your professional profile may be affected, analysing in time what results appear and whether they can be removed is important.
What type of content can harm the reputation of an entrepreneur or professional?
When someone searches for the name of an entrepreneur, the name of a professional or the name of a company director, the information does not need to be false in order to cause damage. It is enough for it to be present online. Most people, especially today with fake news and viral news, do not know or cannot distinguish what is true, what is false, or what is completely outdated and time-barred. On this basis, below we explain some of the types of content that are most harmful, according to our experience.
News about litigation, debts or business conflicts
One of the most frequent cases is news that continues to appear when searching for the name of the entrepreneur or the name of the director, in relation to certain problems connected with litigation, debts or business conflicts. These may involve disputes between partners, commercial claims, debts or business controversies. Their presence in search engines continues to project a very negative image and creates distrust among clients, banks, partners and potential investors, especially international ones.
💡 For example, an entrepreneur may still appear linked to a corporate dispute from eight years ago, even though their company now operates normally.
Results related to court proceedings
Results that associate the name of the professional or the name of the entrepreneur with court proceedings can also be harmful. The truth is that many people do not distinguish between a claim, an investigation, a dismissal of proceedings or a favourable decision, nor between legal terms such as suspect, accused, defendant, etc. Any name that is linked to court proceedings generally leads to a negative conclusion and a negative idea.
Publications relating to the business or the professional
Another common case is content that does not represent the current reality of the business or the professional. It may happen that the name of the director remains linked to a company that no longer exists or has gone bankrupt, or that the name of the professional appears associated with a past stage —for example insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings— that does not reflect their current position. This happens more often with professionals who have worked in different companies throughout their career, as the chances are higher.
Inaccurate, incomplete or decontextualised information
Sometimes the damage does not come from completely false information, but from information that is poorly explained, partial or presented without context, which happens quite often today in digital or online newspapers. A journalistic article or news item may omit the fact that a conflict has already been resolved, that a procedure was dismissed or that the situation changed completely, and that an out-of-court settlement or an agreement through mediation was finally reached. However, as a general rule, newspapers do not remove these harmful articles —they remain online indefinitely—, do not review the article or publish a new one with the updated information. Therefore, the final result is a distorted image of the entrepreneur’s name or the professional’s name.
💡 For example, a publication may mention a claim, complaint or the filing of a lawsuit, but fail to explain that it was dismissed or that it never had any practical consequences.
Content published on blogs, forums or third-party websites
Due to today’s viral content, content published on blogs, forums, opinion pages or third-party websites can be very harmful, especially when it appears when searching for the professional name on the Internet. Sometimes these are comments made without sufficient knowledge, unverified accusations, replicated or retweeted —forwarded— publications, and references without context. Even if they do not come from major media outlets, they can seriously damage reputation if they appear in visible positions on important platforms, forums or social networks.
💡 For example, a consultant, a self-employed worker or an entrepreneur may see their image affected because an Internet forum or blog shows negative and accusatory content when their name is searched, simply because of rumours from third parties without any real contact.
In addition, what matters is not only what exists, but what appears first. In online reputation, the problem is not only that content exists on the Internet, but that it appears among the first results when someone searches for the name of the entrepreneur, the professional or the director. That is where real damage can occur. And that is why it is essential to analyse which results are truly affecting the professional image.
How to protect a professional’s digital reputation through the right to be forgotten
To truly protect the online reputation of an entrepreneur or professional, the important thing is to know how to use it, in which cases it makes sense, and which steps should be followed. Everything starts by understanding which results are damaging the image of the person concerned and causing harm.
Identify the searches that cause harm
The first step is to detect what a third party really sees —from the perspective of a hidden IP or in private browsing mode— when searching for the name of the affected person. It is not only about reviewing one URL, but about analysing the searches that most influence external perception, namely: first name and surname, variations of the name, the name together with the company, the name together with the sector, or even searches such as “name + fraud”, “name + debt” or “name + trial”, if those are the searches causing the problem.
This is important because, in matters of the right to be forgotten for entrepreneurs and professionals, the focus is usually on the results that appear when entering the person’s name. However, it is not enough for a negative publication to exist; it must be a publication that visibly affects the search for the professional’s name or the entrepreneur’s name.
💡 At this stage, it is useful to ask the following questions: what results appear on the first page? Which links are the most visible? What content may create doubts among clients, banks, partners or investors? Which results are outdated?
Analyse whether the result can be delisted
Once the results have been detected, it is necessary to assess whether they can be delisted. The analysis should focus on issues such as whether the information is old, whether it is still relevant today, whether it is accurate, whether it appears without context, whether it disproportionately affects the personal brand or professional activity, and whether there is a current public interest that justifies keeping that result visible. There must be certain arguments to support the idea that this result, when searching for the name of the director or the name of the professional, should no longer appear.
Prepare a well-founded request
The next step is to prepare a well-structured request. A request must identify the affected URLs, explain which searches cause the harm, and why the information is old, inaccurate, excessive or out of context. It has also to describe the harm it causes to the activity of the entrepreneur or professional. Reputational damage should be linked to specific effects such as loss of trust, commercial impact, impact on client acquisition, difficulties in negotiations, or damage to professional image.
Act against the search engine and, where appropriate, against the source website
Here it is important to distinguish between two levels. Delisting is directed at the search engine and seeks to ensure that the link no longer appears in the results obtained when searching for the person’s name. The original source, however, may remain published. For this reason, in some cases it is enough to act against the search engine. In others, it is also advisable to act against the website that publishes the information, especially if the content is inaccurate or unlawful, in order to obtain an additional route for rectification, deletion or anonymisation. These two routes, however, can coexist. The search engine and the publisher, the person responsible for the publication, or the DPO —data protection officer— of the website.
Additional actions
A refusal to delist often means that evidence may be missing, that the arguments are insufficient, or that the case needs to be taken one step further. For this purpose, each country has a data protection authority, which provides the possibility of filing a complaint in matters of delisting and decisions by search engines or websites. In certain cases, the appropriate route will not only be delisting, but a combined strategy against the person responsible for the publication.
Complaint before the data protection authority
One of the next routes, if the search engine rejects the request or does not respond satisfactorily, is to go to the Data Protection Authority. In that case, mediation may be initiated or a complaint may be filed. In addition, if the case has a cross-border dimension —for example, because a large platform or search engine operating in several EEA countries is involved— the national authorities cooperate with each other under the GDPR system. If the DPA intervenes and issues an unfavourable decision, an administrative appeal against the decision is possible.
Act also against the source website
As mentioned, it is also possible to address the website, the person responsible, the content publisher or the DPO of the page in parallel, or even independently. In addition, the Data Protection Authorities of several countries have dealt with matters relating to the acceptance by a press publisher of erasure requests concerning online newspaper archives, which shows that action against the source website is possible, although not always effective.
Judicial action against the search engine and against the publisher
Another route —complementary, not exclusive— is judicial action. According to our experience, judicial action makes sense when the previous routes have been attempted and the negative results are causing serious harm, such as loss of clients, blocked transactions, damage in negotiations, or an impact on professional credit. It may also be the appropriate route when broader measures should be requested.
European Data Protection Supervisor — EDPS
The European Data Protection Supervisor —EDPS— investigates complaints, but only when the data processing is carried out by an institution, body, office or agency of the European Union. The EDPS is not competent to handle complaints against private companies or national authorities, but it is important to know about it, and it would make sense to contact it if the problematic content or processing comes from an EU institution or body.
What evidence should a professional provide to exercise the right to be forgotten?
In this type of request, it is not enough to state that a result harms reputation. Documentation must be provided to support it. The aim is to prove who the affected person is, what content harms them, why that result causes damage, and why it should no longer continue to appear.
Identification of the professional
The first step is to prove the identity of the affected person. The search engine or platform must be able to verify that the person making the request is the person whose name appears in the results, or that they are acting on their behalf —for example, a law firm. In practice, this requires providing an identity document and, if a lawyer or representative is involved, the corresponding authorisation. If it is not clearly proven who is requesting the removal, the request will be rejected.
Links and evidence of the results
The request must be precise. It is not enough to say that “negative things appear”. It is necessary to identify which links are causing the problem and how they appear when searching for the name of the entrepreneur or professional. For this reason, it is advisable to provide the URLs, screenshots of the results and indicate the exact search query. This makes it possible to precisely define the negative results —and not remove positive results, for example.
Explanation of the professional or business harm
One of the most important points is to explain why that result harms the activity of the person concerned —in what way it harms them. In the case of professionals, the damage must relate to reputation, trust and the specific business. The more specific this point is, the better.
Official documentation and old, inaccurate or no longer relevant information
It is also important to support the request with documents that make it possible to show that the information has become outdated, incomplete, or contains errors.
💡 Depending on the case, judicial decisions, documents proving that proceedings have been closed, evidence of payment or regularisation of a debt, later publications clarifying the situation, corporate certificates, or any other element that helps explain the facts may be useful.
Context of the professional or business activity
Finally, it is advisable to explain the situation of the entrepreneur or professional. This point provides context and helps show that the content belongs to a past stage or no longer represents the current activity of the person concerned. It may be useful to indicate, for example, that the entrepreneur now carries out another activity, that the professional no longer has any connection with the company or situation mentioned, that the conflict was left behind years ago, or that their current career has no relation to the content that continues to appear in search engines.
Risks of not acting in time against negative results
Many entrepreneurs and professionals postpone this problem because they think that “no one will see it” or that “it is not worth giving it importance”. However, the opposite usually happens. When a negative result remains visible for months or years when searching for the name of the entrepreneur, the name of the professional or the name of the director, it ends up becoming part of their digital identity, and therefore it becomes harder to remove that idea or perception. And this has consequences in terms of image, business, opportunities and credibility. Below, we set out some of the most important risks.
Loss of commercial trust
Trust is the most valuable asset of any entrepreneur or professional. And today, that trust is often formed even before the first call or the first meeting. If a potential client searches for a person’s name and finds negative content, they may decide not to move forward. They will simply go to another professional or another company. This especially affects those who work in sectors where the decision to hire depends largely on credibility and where they personally represent their activity. A single visible result can create enough doubt to stop a commercial relationship.
‼️ For this reason, negative results do not only damage image; they can also stop sales, contacts and new business opportunities.
Damage to professional image
Not all harm immediately translates into a visible economic loss. Sometimes the damage first affects the perception that others have of the person, weakens their authority and projects an image that no longer corresponds to reality. An executive, a director, a liberal professional or a self-employed person with a personal brand needs their online presence to convey solidity, coherence and trust. If the results tell another story, that professional image deteriorates, even if the current reality is very different.
Difficulties in negotiations, financing or hiring
The effects of a bad digital reputation are not limited to client acquisition. They can also appear in negotiations with a partner, a financing request, an investment or a hiring process. It is increasingly common for banks, investors, companies and law firms to carry out prior searches about the people they are going to work with. If negative content appears when searching for the name of the director or the name of the entrepreneur, the impact can be very negative. The same can happen in a high-level selection process or in an important professional collaboration. The information can influence the perception of risk and cool down decisions that depend, to a large extent, on trust.
Persistence of the digital footprint
The problem with the digital footprint is precisely this: if no one intervenes, it remains. And the longer it remains, the more normalised it becomes. However, if that content continues to appear when searching for the name of the entrepreneur or professional, it may seem current to the person reading it today. For this reason, in many cases, acting early is not only advisable; it is the best way to prevent old information from continuing to condition the future.
💡 The longer negative content remains visible, the more likely it is to spread, be replicated or continue to affect important decisions. Speed not only protects reputation; it also protects opportunities.
Summary of risks
| Risk | How it may appear in practice | Impact for the entrepreneur or professional |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of commercial trust | A potential client searches for the name of the entrepreneur or professional and finds old news, litigation or negative content | They may decide not to hire them or go to a competitor |
| Damage to professional image | The name appears associated with conflicts, debts, proceedings or outdated references | Credibility and the perception of solvency or seriousness are weakened |
| Difficulties in attracting clients | The first impression on Google creates doubts before even the first contact | Consultations, meetings and business opportunities are reduced |
| Impact on commercial negotiations | Partners, suppliers or collaborators detect negative results when reviewing the profile of the person concerned | The negotiation may slow down, become more difficult or fail |
| Problems with financing or banking relationships | Banks or financial institutions negatively assess the digital footprint of the entrepreneur or director | It may affect credit lines, financing or risk conditions |
| Obstacles in corporate or investment transactions | Investors or buyers carry out prior searches on directors or partners | It may create concerns during due diligence or stop transactions |
| Loss of professional opportunities | A law firm, company or institutional client reviews the professional’s name before collaborating | Collaborations, appointments or projects may be ruled out |
| Permanent association with facts already overcome | The Internet continues to show a past stage that no longer reflects the current reality | The past continues to unfairly condition the professional present |
| Spread and amplification of the harm | The negative content is replicated on other sites, forums or aggregators | The problem gains visibility and becomes more difficult to control |
| Deterioration of the personal brand | The person’s own name loses value as a professional or business asset | It affects reputation, positioning and the ability to generate trust |
Right to be forgotten and transparency for entrepreneurs, what are the limits?
The digital right to be forgotten does not allow all information related to a company, a director or an economic activity to be automatically erased. For entrepreneurs, company directors and professionals, this right must be balanced against the right to information, freedom of expression, the legal certainty of commercial transactions, and the transparency obligations imposed on companies. This includes, among others, information appearing in public registers, data relating to directors, accounting, tax and anti-money laundering obligations, as well as information on beneficial owners. The GDPR recognises the right to erasure when certain conditions are met, but it also provides for exceptions, especially when data processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation.
The right to be forgotten is not an absolute right
European case law confirms that the right to be forgotten for entrepreneurs and professionals is never automatic. In the Google Spain judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union recognised that a person may request a search engine to delist certain links that appear when searching for their name, when the results cause a disproportionate interference with their fundamental rights. Learn how to exercise the right to be forgotten on Google.
Company transparency, public registers and third-party interests
In company matters, the analysis is stricter. In the Manni judgment of 9 March 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union considered that, in principle, there is no right to be forgotten in relation to personal data appearing in company registers, since these registers aim to guarantee legal certainty and protect third parties. However, the Court accepts that, once a sufficiently long period has passed since the dissolution of a company, it may be possible to restrict access to certain data. This case law is important for directors, managers and executives whose name remains associated with an old company, a bankruptcy, a commercial dispute or a situation that no longer reflects their current activity.
UBO register, beneficial owners and protection of private life
Economic transparency also does not mean that all information must be accessible to the general public without limits. In the joined cases Luxembourg Business Registers and Sovim, of 22 November 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the automatic access of the general public to information relating to the beneficial owners of companies, considering that such generalised access caused a disproportionate interference with the right to respect for private life and the protection of personal data. This decision shows that transparency obligations, especially in UBO and anti-money laundering matters, must be proportionate. They do not necessarily justify certain data remaining visible, accessible or easily associated with the name of a professional in search engines.
Case-by-case analysis between reputation, transparency and public interest
In practice, protecting the online reputation of a director, entrepreneur or professional does not mean erasing all economic or corporate information. Information that is mandatory in a legal register may, in some cases, have to remain accessible in that register. However it may still justify a request when it appears excessively in search results associated with a person’s name. The objective, therefore, is not to avoid tax, corporate or UBO transparency obligations, but to limit the disproportionate impact of certain results on professional reputation, commercial credibility and the ability of an entrepreneur to carry out their activity.
Success examples for entrepreneurs and professionals
In our practice, we have advised entrepreneurs, executives and professionals whose online reputation was affected by search results that no longer reflected their current situation or that caused disproportionate harm in the exercise of their activity.
Entrepreneurs affected by news about corporate conflicts
We have advised entrepreneurs whose name continued to appear, years later, linked to news about conflicts between partners, corporate tensions or internal management disputes that had already been completely overcome. Although the information may have been published in a specific context, its continued presence in search results still projected a negative image before clients, banks, commercial partners or potential investors. In these cases, the legal analysis is aimed at showing that the information has lost relevance and that keeping it visible in search engines produces a disproportionate reputational impact.
Professionals associated with court proceedings that have already been closed
We have also acted in situations where liberal professionals continued to appear on the Internet associated with court proceedings, claims or old files that had already been closed, dismissed or no longer had any current interest. This situation can significantly affect the trust that clients or third parties place in the professional, especially when a simple search of their name gives an incomplete or outdated image of their career. In such cases, the right to be forgotten makes it possible to build a strategy aimed at obtaining the delisting of results whose continued presence is no longer justified.
Executives harmed by outdated content
We have also advised executives and directors whose name continued to appear associated with old content relating to a company they no longer managed, to a professional stage that had already ended, or to business circumstances that had changed significantly. In practice, these results can distort the public perception of the person concerned and create unjustified doubts about their solvency, credibility or management capacity. In this context, a well-prepared legal action can help limit the spread of content that no longer reflects the current professional reality.
Self-employed workers and liberal professionals whose client acquisition was affected
In other matters, we have advised self-employed workers and liberal professionals whose activity depended directly on their name and reputation, and who were harmed by the appearance in search engines of old publications, negative references or content that was no longer current. When the presence of these results affects client acquisition, commercial trust or the development of the professional activity, it is necessary to assess whether the conditions are met to request their delisting and thereby protect the digital image of the person concerned.
We protect the online reputation of professionals with a tailored approach
At Arthur & Marin, we help entrepreneurs, company directors, executives, self-employed workers and liberal professionals exercise the right to be forgotten and, where necessary, take additional action before the competent authorities. The aim is to protect their professional name, brand, ability to generate trust and reputational value before clients, banks, partners, investors and collaborators.
Contact us at info@arthurmarin.com or on +32 465 345 345 and we will study your situation confidentially to determine what options exist and which route should be adopted to protect your online reputation as an entrepreneur or professional.
💡 We study each case individually, identify the most effective route and design a tailored strategy.
