• algorithmic accountability
• data erasure
• data protection
• digital human rights
• duty to forget
• fundamental rights
• gdpr article 17
• privacy rights
• proportionality principle
• right to be forgotten
• search engines

The Court of Justice of the European Union, in its landmark ruling C-131/12 (Google Spain SL and Google Inc. vs. AEPD and Mario Costeja González, 2014), firmly established that individuals possess the significant right to request the deletion of personal data. This research elucidates how the systematic interpretation also imposes a pivotal legal mechanism of public sustainability, as the "duty to forget".
Drawing on Karl Polanyi seminal work, "Trade and Markets in the Early Empires" (1957), this approach sheds light on the intricate institutional dynamics, effectively challenging the conventional views of neoclassical economics. Polanyi approach reveals that human economic activities have always been deeply embedded within the fabric of institutions and foundation for developing an ethics of governing memory. This is particularly relevant when examining the three fundamental economic survival strategies that are prevalent across all societies: Reciprocity, Redistribution and Market.
The right to be forgotten is not merely an individual right, but is an active corporative duty . Machine unlearning facilitates the effective removal of data as minimization technologies which limit the retention of personal information.
In conclusion, the duty to forget is part of sustainable data governance. Search platforms and generative AI systems are experiencing a significant surge in their energy consumption. The imperative to reduce the sheer volume of irrelevant personal data transcends mere considerations of privacy rights; it is essential for effectively confronting the entropy arising from the escalating impacts of climate change.