Is Anything Ever ‘Forgotten’ Online?
How hard is it to find what people would prefer was forgotten?
- Keith W. Ross for The Conversation July 10th, 2016
- Source: http://theconversation.com/is-anything-ever-forgotten-online-61470
When someone types your name into Google, suppose the first link points to a newspaper article about you going bankrupt 15 years ago, or to a YouTube video of you smoking cigarettes 20 years ago, or simply a webpage that includes personal information such as your current home address, your birth date, or your Social Security number. What can you do — besides cry?
Unlike those living the United States, Europeans actually have some recourse. The European Union’s “right to be forgotten” (RTBF) law allows EU residents to fill out an online form requesting that a search engine (such as Google) remove links that compromise their privacy or unjustly damage their reputation.
