The right to be forgotten is progressing with baby steps

Before 2020, buying a property for someone who had cancer was virtually out of the question. Ticking the box for a serious pathology, even one that had been present for several years, on the health questionnaire for the loan insurance raised a red flag with the insurer, who at best applied an additional premium and at worst simply refused to insure the borrower, which had the effect of cancelling the property transaction.

This unfair situation was to be avoided thanks to the agreement on the right to be forgotten, signed in 2019 between the Ministry of Health and the Association of Insurance Companies (Aca) and due to come into force on 1 January 2020. The Journal attempted to assess the extent of its application in an article published in February 2024. And it came up against the specific nature of this right to be forgotten, i.e. the right not to have an old illness taken into account when buying a property. While certain illnesses still have to be declared even if they are not taken into account, others (such as cancers) are no longer declared at all. It is therefore impossible to determine how many people have legally failed to declare their serious medical history.