OSAGIE GODWIN EMMANUEL (32320)
You can find out anything about someone these days by clicking on someone social media.You can find out where they live, they work, they look like, their favourite brands and television shows. To put some boundaries in place the EU passed the “right to be forgotten”. This ruling allows people to take down information about them that they think to be damaging or incorrect. The court said “the data that had to be erased could appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant or excessive … in the light of the time that had elapsed. They added that even accurate data that had been lawfully published initially could in the course of time become incompatible with the directive (Travis and Arthur, 2014)”.These could have advantages as well as disadvantages.
Advantages of the right to be forgotten
Ø Opportunity for fresh start
This is good for people who have made mistake in the past and want to start afresh or people who have been accused for something they didn’t do. Although this may not be the case in every situations. Taking for instance someone who shoplifted when he/she was a teenager should be giving the opportunity for a fresh start and allowed to move on with their life compared to someone who committed murder.
Ø It helps people to maintain their right to personal privacy.
This right to personal privacy state that respect for someone’s private life includes “respect for private and confidential information, particularly the storing and sharing of such information; respect for privacy when one has a reasonable expectation of privacy; and the right to control the dissemination of information about one’s private life, including photographs taken covertly (Liberty-human-rights.org.uk, 2014)”.Although this may not interfere with criminal records.
Ø This will also help to remove an emotional burden on people who have had to undergo some sense of breach of privacy which has emotionally hurt them. Taking for instance people having the picture of their dead child on the internet which have left them with an emotional trauma.
Disadvantages of right to be forgotten
Ø It could expose people to danger
When going into business with anyone or buying/renting a property, the quickest place to seek information about such persons or property is the internet. But with the right to be forgotten giving permission for people to modify information about themselves, will lead to people making decisions on wrong information’s. This could expose such individuals to danger which could have been easily prevented.
Ø It could prevent or hinder learning from the past.
Our life histories will become increasingly public as today’s children are comfortable with using social media tools to communicate with family, friends and the world. Erasing personal stories also undermines our ability to learn from mistakes. It is natural to want a chance to start again. However it is not true that we start completely anew. We learn from past experiences and mistakes, which become part of our character and personal story.
Ø It could also hinder freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is one of the major fundamental human rights. With this new ruling by EU court it means people are now limited to what they can say about someone else irrespectively of its credibility.