Cancer survivors and the ‘right to be forgotten’

Cancer affects one in every two people during their lifetime. In Ireland alone, there are around 215,000 cancer survivors thanks to advancements in screening and treatment meaning that six out of every 10 people survive their cancer diagnosis. But there are some unexpected problems faced by people who try to move on with their lives. A recent paper by Lawler, Scocca and Meunier published in the Lancet Oncology mentions the existence of some 20 million people in Europe previously diagnosed with cancer who have now passed the five-year cancer-free mark and are deemed fully recovered.¹ That is to say they have recovered medically – however, the recovery of their credit rating is a different story.

According to Lawler et al: “Despite robust evidence of cancer-free survival, cancer survivors across Europe routinely face active discrimination in accessing financial products and services, including loans, mortgages, and health and travel insurance, compromising their post-cancer lives.” It appears, indeed, to be the norm, meaning that up to five million Europeans are being denied basic rights. The Irish Cancer Society asserts that three in five people affected by cancer find it difficult to access financial products, with refusal and unfair treatment commonly reported,² adding that “this leaves people feeling anxious, distressed and demoralised due to uncertainties around underwriting decisions”. In recent years, this has led many commentators to ask: Do cancer survivors not have the right for their illness to be forgotten?

In January 2016, France became the first country in the world to enshrine into law the ‘right to be forgotten’ for adults and children who are 10 years free of cancer. This waiting time was subsequently reduced to five years for children. The upshot was that cancer survivors no longer had to declare their diagnosis to financial institutions, nor could their medical information be requested to progress an application. As of April 2024, eight European countries had legislated against discrimination of cancer survivors – in addition to France, these are Belgium (2018), the Netherlands (2021), Portugal (2022), Romania (2022), Spain (2023), Cyprus (2023) and Italy (2023).¹

Prof Mark Lawler, first author of the paper and professor of digital health at Queen’s University, Belfast, labelled the findings as “disgraceful” during an interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland in August. RTÉ reported that Insurance Ireland considered Ireland to have a progressive position on the right to be forgotten, contending it was not aware of any complaints about the existing insurance industry’s code of practice, which was introduced on December 6, 2023. This code of practice encourages insurers to disregard a mortgage-protection applicant’s cancer diagnosis if their treatment ended successfully more than seven years earlier (or five years earlier if the applicant was under 18 when treatment was concluded). This code of practice applies to loans up to a ceiling of €500,000. 

However, Prof Lawler contended on Morning Ireland that financial institutions in Ireland can choose to follow this code of practice if they wish but that there is no legal requirement for them to do so. He called for an end to financial discrimination against cancer survivors and for the right to have their illness forgotten after five years to be enshrined in law. 

The Irish Cancer Society is also calling for a statutory ‘right to be forgotten’ for cancer survivors in its Pre-Budget Submission 2025.³ In the meantime, Ireland’s code of practice falls a long way short of what the French pioneered nearly a decade ago.  

References

1. Lawler M, Scocca G, Meunier F. Ending financial discrimination for cancer survivors: embedding the right to be forgotten in legislation across Europe. Lancet Oncol 2024 25(9):1123-6
2. www.cancer.ie/about-us/cancer-advocacy/access-to-financial-services-and-products-survey 
3. www.cancer.ie/about-us/cancer-advocacy/prebudget-submission-2025