Direito ao esquecimento: análise e crítica aos precedentes do Superior Tribunal de Justiça

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the concept of the “right to be forgotten,” particularly in how it pertains to precedents set by the Superior Court of Justice, promoting analysis and criticism of court decisions. Being a sensible topic within the realm of personality rights, and a product of revolutionary changes in the means of communication and information, the right to be forgotten is directly involved with privacy and intimacy issues as they relate to the right to information and to freedom of expression. In the case of Brazil, the right to be forgotten was first put in practice in the legal system with the statement 531 of the Sixth Civil Law Journey, under the pretext that there was an increase in damages caused by the so called “information technologies,” allowing citizens the right to discuss the use of previous facts and their purposes. For an in-depth look at the subject, the paper will at first examine the fundamental rights related to the right to be forgotten, elucidating their respective characteristics and limitations. Following that, the paper will cover the tutelage of the right to be forgotten in foreign judicial systems, demonstrating the importance of comparative law in the improvement of national law, bearing in mind the increasing judicial interchange-taking place in court decisions. The paper concludes by covering precedents from the Superior Court of Justice that discourse on the right to be forgotten, with a focus on the “Aida Curi” (Resp. 1.335.153/RJ) and “Candelária” (Resp. 1.334.097/RJ) cases, alongside criticism on the topic and comments pondering fundamental rights.