Is there a right to be forgotten in the United States?
No general right exists. Several narrower mechanisms do, and they cover more than people assume.
The United States has no general right to be forgotten. European-style de-listing based on relevance over time does not apply. What exists instead is a set of narrower routes: state privacy statutes with deletion rights, sealing and expungement of criminal records, platform policies covering personal identifying information, and defamation law where content is false.
Why the European model does not transfer
The European framework balances privacy against expression and, in many cases, allows de-listing of accurate but outdated information. The First Amendment weights that balance very differently, and truthful published information is strongly protected in the United States.
The practical consequence is blunt: in the US, being accurate is usually enough for content to stay up, regardless of age or consequence.
In Europe the question is often whether it is still relevant. In the US the question is usually whether it is true.
What you can actually use
- State privacy laws. California, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut and others give consumers deletion rights against businesses holding their data. These reach data brokers effectively, and far less so publishers.
- Expungement and sealing. A state-law route affecting the official record. It does not automatically clear what news sites and aggregators already published. See expungement and internet records.
- Platform personal-information policies. Google will remove results exposing identifiers, financial or medical records, or contact details creating a risk of harm.
- Defamation. Only for false statements of fact. Covered in is a negative review defamation.
What this means in practice
Most people arriving at this question want an old, accurate, embarrassing item gone. In the US that item is usually not removable by right, and the honest answer is that the work shifts to the publisher's discretion, to the data-broker layer, or to what else ranks.
We would rather say that at scan than bill for an attempt that was never viable.
Common questions
Do any US states have a right to be forgotten?
Some give minors limited rights to delete their own posted content, and several give consumers deletion rights against businesses, but no state provides a general right to de-list truthful published journalism.
Does the EU right help me if I am American?
It generally applies to people in the EU. Some de-listing is applied at a country level rather than globally, so effects for a US-based person are limited.
Can I use privacy law against a news site?
Journalistic exemptions in most of these statutes make that route very unlikely to succeed.
Find out if it can come down.
The scan is free and confidential. You get a viability answer on each item, a fixed price, and a timeline. Anything accepted and still published at 14 days is refunded in full.
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Working through this for a business? See Removal-first reputation management.