Europeans can now request that unwanted personal information be deleted by Google and other search engines, according to a recent decision by the European Court of Justice.
The justices ruled in a case brought by a Spanish attorney who wanted Google and a newspaper, La Vanguardia, to remove 1998 information regarding his old debts.
The attorney argued that the information, which he discovered in a Google search, showed him in a bad light and was no longer relevant.
The newspaper was allowed to hold onto the information because it was originally published as a court-ordered auction of property. But Google was told to delete a link that led to the newspaper’s website.
The decision is expected to also have repercussions for other social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Reactions in Europe and the United States highlight strongly held positions on Internet privacy versus censorship.
As reported in the British newspaper, The Telegraph, the Open Rights Group decried the decision as a threat to free speech. However, Member of Parliament David Davis said the ruling was sensible and gave individuals the right to control their own data.
According to an article at Time.com, Europe and the United States appear headed toward very different legal paths to resolve the debate. The United States has a mixed bag of state and federal laws that offer some protection, but mostly for special groups like minors or specific reasons like medical history.
“The First Amendment really does prevent this kind of widespread unpublishing of data,” says Danny O’Brien, international director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in the Time’s article. “In the U.S., free speech sort of trumps privacy.”
It is not clear what Google’s response will be to future requests that could come from any of about 500 million Europeans who now have the right to be forgotten.
One expensive route would be to wait for individual requests and then pay legal fees while the court rules on each request in turn.
However, there are exceptions when information would not be deleted because the individual is a public figure or there is a compelling public interest.
Some Internet advocates worry that the decision will “balkanize” the free flow of online information by establishing different standards based on where a person lives.
First Amendment Attorney Marc Randazza in an op-ed for CNN said Americans need the same privacy rights as those granted in Europe. He believes there is more concern shown in America for the rights of big corporations, such as Google, than for individual privacy rights.
University of Chicago Law School Professor Eric Posner, writing for Slate.com, argued that the Internet and technology have stripped away individual privacy and a balance needs to be restored.
A Pew Research Center poll found that about 68 percent of Americans feel laws don’t offer enough privacy protections.
Please Leave A Comment
Related posts:
12,000 Europeans Asked to be ‘Forgotten’ by Google on Day One of New Ruling
Google My Business Hopes to Help Connect Businesses and Customers
Google Offers New Photo Tools for Businesses
Microsoft vs. Google Patents Ruling: The ITC’s Growing Role in Business
Google Invests $40 Million In Education Technology Company