The right to be forgotten
The European Commission has proposed a legal “right to be forgotten” as part of its update of data protection rules, allowing Internet users to ensure that shameful pictures or other embarrassing online content is deleted from Facebook or other social networking websites.
This is in response to growing fears about the negative influence of social networking sites on people’s careers, social and private lives after personal information, available to anyone using Internet search engines, has led to failed job interviews, divorces and public disgrace.
Viviane Reding, Europe’s rights commissioner, said that: “Internet users must have effective control of what they put online and be able to correct, withdraw or delete it at will. What happens if you want to permanently delete your profile on a social networking site? Can this be done easily? The right to be forgotten is essential in today’s digital world.”