Article 17 — Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)

GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679

What does GDPR Article 17 say?

Short answer, straight from the official text

1. The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning him or her without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies: (a) the personal data are no longer necessary in …

Source: GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, read 2026-08-14.

Official text

Read from the EU Publications Office for this CELEX number. The wording stands as published; nothing here is rewritten or summarised.

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1. The data subject shall have the right to obtain from the controller the erasure of personal data concerning him or her without undue delay and the controller shall have the obligation to erase personal data without undue delay where one of the following grounds applies:

(a) the personal data are no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected or otherwise processed;

(b) the data subject withdraws consent on which the processing is based according to point (a) of Article 6(1), or point (a) of Article 9(2), and where there is no other legal ground for the processing;

(c) the data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(1) and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing, or the data subject objects to the processing pursuant to Article 21(2);

(d) the personal data have been unlawfully processed;

(e) the personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation in Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject;

(f) the personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services referred to in Article 8(1).

2. Where the controller has made the personal data public and is obliged pursuant to paragraph 1 to erase the personal data, the controller, taking account of available technology and the cost of implementation, shall take reasonable steps, including technical measures, to inform controllers which are processing the personal data that the data subject has requested the erasure by such controllers of any links to, or copy or replication of, those personal data.

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Other articles in this chapter

• Article 12
• Article 13
• Article 14
• Article 15
• Article 16
• Article 18
• Article 19
• Article 20
• Article 21
• Article 22
• Article 23

The same rule in other acts

These articles carry the same official heading. The wording is not identical; read each text at its own source.

• EUDPR Article 19 — Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)

Who does this apply to

The register names five roles. Open a role to see the duties this act places on it, each row with its article and its source.

• Cloud service provider

Does this apply to us?

• Do ai governance rules apply to a cloud provider?
• Do personal data rules apply to a cloud provider?
• Do cross-border data rules apply to a cloud provider?
• Do cybersecurity rules apply to a cloud provider?
• Do health data rules apply to a cloud provider?
• Do online platforms rules apply to a cloud provider?

All roles in the register · All questions by role

The text is quoted from the official source and is not legal advice. A national court reads the language version that binds in its jurisdiction.

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