Curious about the future of digital privacy for businesses?
Privacy rights are changing the digital landscape. Companies can’t ignore “right to be forgotten” rules or they’ll face penalties.
GDPR Article 17, the “right to be forgotten” rule, could give a single company fines of millions. By 2024, Google processed over 5 million personal data deletion requests.
But wait, it’s more important than you may realize.
Digital business strategies without a plan for right to be forgotten requests are begging for trouble. Data protection privacy professionals ranked GDPR compliance as an essential industry requirement for 84% of industries.
What you’ll learn
- Getting to know Right to Be Forgotten
- Digital Strategy integration of Right to Be Forgotten Fundamentals
- Implementation Framework for “Right to be Forgotten”
- How To Avoid Right to Be Forgotten Common Pitfalls
Getting to know Right to Be Forgotten Fundamentals
GDPR Article 17, Right to be forgotten, allows individuals to request their personal data be erased from a digital business.
But here’s the kicker…
It’s not as simple as just pressing a delete button. The regulation requires companies to have processes in place to manage these requests. Businesses must act within one month and take “reasonable steps” to inform other data controllers of the erasure.
And here’s why it’s critical for digital strategy.
Your entire data infrastructure must be designed to support erasure from the outset. It’s not something that can be tacked on after the fact and expected to function correctly.
When an individual exercises their right to be forgotten, your systems must be able to:
- Locate all instances of their data
- Validate the legitimacy of the request
- Carry out deletion across all databases and backups
- Record the entire process for auditing purposes
The difficulty of this increases when you consider that right to be forgotten services are now a major business for individuals who want to erase their personal data. This increased demand means digital strategy must have efficient processes to manage these requests.
Digital Strategy integration of Right to Be Forgotten Fundamentals
Digital privacy strategy is not magic, but does need planning to make work for your business.
Start with data mapping.
Know exactly where personal data is held in your systems, including:
- Customer databases
- Marketing automation tools
- Analytics services
- Third-party integrations
- Backups
Most companies find personal data is scattered across dozens of systems they had forgotten about. This is a compliance and deletion disaster waiting to happen.
Design for deletion from the start.
Smart companies plan for erasure when they build their technology stack. This means:
- Unique identifiers across all systems
- Automated deletion processes
- Appropriate data retention policies
- Audit trails for all deletion requests
The key is to make deletion as automated as possible while retaining appropriate verification.
Implementation Framework for “Right to be Forgotten”
Let’s look at the step-by-step framework to make right to be forgotten requests work in your business.
Phase 1: Assessment and Planning
Audit your existing data environment.
Map every system that processes personal data. Document data flows between systems. Identify technical limitations to deletion.
For most organizations this takes 2-3 months.
Phase 2: Technical Implementation
Build your deletion infrastructure.
Create a centralized request processing system. Implement automated deletion workflows. Set up verification mechanisms. Backup and recovery procedures.
This phase is often challenging due to underestimated technical complexity.
Phase 3: Process and Training
Develop operational procedures.
Train staff on request handling. Create escalation procedures. Set up monitoring and reporting systems. Schedule regular compliance audits.
73% of European organizations say they’ve enhanced how they manage customer data as a result of GDPR rules in 2025. But many have struggled with consistent application.
Phase 4: Ongoing Monitoring
Maintain compliance.
Monitor deletion success rates. Track request response times. Audit system changes for compliance impact. Update processes as systems evolve.
Maintenance of deletion requests is an ongoing operational requirement.
How to Avoid Right to Be Forgotten Common Pitfalls
You want to know the biggest mistakes companies make with Right to Be Forgotten Implementation?
Mistake #1: Viewing it as purely a legal matter
Right to be forgotten requirements are delegated to legal teams and then ignored by most businesses. But right to be forgotten is fundamentally a technical problem that engineering resources must solve.
Mistake #2: Overlooking third-party systems
Personal data isn’t just in your databases. It’s shared with marketing platforms, analytics providers and business partners. Deletion must include all these touchpoints.
Mistake #3: Weak request verification
Fake deletion requests are common. Bad actors attempt to remove evidence of their activities by making “right to be forgotten” requests. Robust identity verification is needed but without excessive friction.
Mistake #4: Inadequate process testing
Deleting data is permanent. Companies who don’t rigorously test deletion processes lose critical business information.
Mistake #5: Ignoring backups
Nightly backups have personal data. Many companies fail to update backup retention and deletion policies.
How to Implement “Right to be Forgotten”
Privacy landscape will continue to evolve, digital business strategy must adapt to it.
Future-focused companies are building in “privacy by design” principles. This includes:
- Minimizing data collection
- Robust data governance
- Privacy-enhancing technology
- Regular compliance reviews
With 30 Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) in Europe coordinating enforcement of the right to be forgotten in 2025. Oversight is going to ramp up.
Companies that get ahead of the curve will have an advantage. Those who react under regulator pressure will fall behind.
Implementation Success Metrics
Wondering how you know if “right to be forgotten” request implementation is successful?
Monitor these key metrics:
- Request processing time (target under 15 days)
- Deletion success rate (aim for 99%+)
- System coverage (% of systems included)
- Audit findings (trending toward zero issues)
- User satisfaction with process
Tracking these metrics early allows you to correct problems before they become compliance violations.
Conclusion
Right to Be Forgotten isn’t just for compliance officers, it’s now central to the digital business strategy.
Key points to remember:
- Comprehensive data mapping is essential
- Design your systems for deletion from the outset
- Put robust operational processes in place
- Continuously improve and monitor performance
Businesses that find the right balance between erasure and business requirements will win. Those still trying to bolt on compliance to existing processes will lose.
Right to be forgotten is here to stay, the question is whether you implement in a proactive manner or under pressure from regulators.
The time to plan is now, because it might be too late tomorrow.