A few weeks ago I blogged about how the French government is demanding information repository companies, like Google, Yahoo, et al, allow its citizenry to be completely wiped from oblivion on the Internet. I think what is most intriguing about “le Doit al ‘Oubli” is how it highlights the distinct differences between European and American viewpoints towards “privacy.”
The le Doit al ‘Oubli movement has now spread into neighboring Spain. Spain’s Data Protection Agency has ordered Mountain View, CA, based Google, Inc., to remove links to material of around 90 people. The information was published years or even decades ago but is available to anyone via simple searches. Scores of Spaniards lay claim to a “Right to be Forgotten” because public information once hard to get is now so easy to find on the Internet. Google has decided to challenge the orders and has appealed five cases so far this year to the National Court. Some of the information is embarrassing, some seems downright banal. A few cases involve lawsuits that found life online through news reports, but whose dismissals were ignored by media and never appeared on the Internet. Others concern administrative decisions published in official regional gazettes.
The debate is centered around the ease of access of readily available public information versus an individuals right to privacy. Undoubtedly, Google lawyers will argue that the information is already publicly available, and therefore, just because it is easier to obtain public information, they should not be prohibited from posting that information. Before the advent of the Internet, public information requests were exercises in obscure procedural standards that only a news agency or lawyer knew how to use. Now, a simple query of your name in an Internet browser, and boom, that arrest for pot possession in college is right next to your LinkedIn profile.
I am going to continue to follow this emerging movement. The merits of it are provable, but what is the reality of actually becoming “forgotten” on the Internet? Who will become the next country to adopt this movement (I am certain it won’t be the USA)?