Netiquette IQ - Very Important Information About The Right to Have Links Removed On the Internet

 

==================================================== 

The following is a very important article for all of us and can have great potential.

Right to be forgotten [On the Internet]

June 2014

Posted by: Margaret Rouse

The right to be forgotten is the concept that individuals have the civil right to request that personal information be removed from the Internet.

In May 2014, a man from Spain asked Google to remove links to an old newspaper article about his previous bankruptcy, claiming there was no legitimate reason for the outdated information to remain accessible online.  The European Court of Justice ruled that under European law, search engines are data controllers so they must consider all requests to stop returning irrelevant or outdated information in search queries. According to the ruling, the Web pages that the query results in question point to can remain online and any link omissions on query returns will only occur when searches are made in Europe. In the wake of the ruling, Google began receiving thousands more requests to take down links.

While the right to be forgotten aims to support personal privacy, the concern is that it conflicts with the open nature of the Web and the free flow of information. The interests of one individual in removing information from the Web may conflict with the interests of another individual or group. While Google is not required to honor every request for information to be taken down, it seems clear that the popularity of the concept will inspire organizations to have a process in place for reviewing and following through on take-down requests.

Currently the General Data Protection Regulation ruling applies only in the European Union, but according to some research, Americans might be interested in a similar right in the U.S. in spite of concern from the opposition that removal of legally published and truthful information from the open Web infringes on First Amendment rights and smacks of censorship.
===============================
In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, "Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo.  I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County New Jersey.
==========================================