Can I ask them to erase my data?
You can — but the right to erasure is not absolute, and that is widely overlooked. The right to be forgotten means you may require a controller to erase without undue delay the personal data concerning you. The deadline is clear: the controller must respond without undue delay and within one month at the latest of receiving the request, and must tell you what action it has taken on it. But erasure is not automatic: where the controller has another legal basis for processing — a legal obligation, the performance of a contract, or the establishment of legal claims — it is not obliged to erase your data. Complaints go to the Office for Personal Data Protection.
📋 The rules
- You may request erasure of personal data
- The controller replies within one month
- It must state the action it has taken
- The right to erasure is not absolute
- Complaints: the Personal Data Protection Office
🔓 Exceptions
- Erasure can be refused where another legal basis for processing exists
- For instance a legal obligation, or the establishment of legal claims
- Make the request in writing or electronically so you can prove it
⚠️ Penalties & fines
The most widespread GDPR myth is "I can always have myself erased". You cannot. Where a controller processes your data on another legal basis — a legal obligation (accounting records, say), the performance of a contract, or the establishment of legal claims — it will refuse erasure, and it will be acting lawfully. What it must always do: respond, within one month at the latest, and explain what action it has taken — or why it declined. Send the request in writing or electronically, so that in any later proceedings you can prove you exercised the right. If they do not reply, go to the Office for Personal Data Protection.
📎 Official sources
- Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic →
- Slov-Lex · Act 18/2018 →
- European Commission · GDPR →
❓ Frequently asked
Do I always have a right to erasure?
No, and this is the most widespread GDPR myth. Where a controller has another legal basis for processing — a legal obligation, a contract, or the establishment of claims — it may refuse to erase.
How long do they have to reply?
Without undue delay, and within one month of receiving the request at the latest. The controller must give you information about the action it has taken in response to your request.
How should I make the request?
In writing or electronically. That matters because, in any subsequent data protection proceedings, you need to be able to prove that you actually exercised your right and when.
What if they do not reply?
You can turn to the Office for Personal Data Protection and file a proposal to open data protection proceedings, or a complaint to the supervisory authority.
What other rights do I have?
Besides erasure, notably the rights of access, rectification, restriction of processing, data portability, and the right to object. The controller must inform you about these rights.
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