We have all posted status updates, tweets or photos that we have come to regret. Usually, all we need to do is delete it

The right to be forgotten online

We have all posted status updates, tweets or photos that we have come to regret. Usually, all we need to do is delete it. Except an occasional fight with your partner or colleague the damage is minimal. There are horror stories of people who get fired because of a racy picture, or divorces based on information that surfaced on Facebook. These cases are reminders that we ought play safe with private data online. But still, as Facebook founder Mark Zucker berg had predicted, we are more willing to share our personal lives online than ever before. However, there are some who are uncomfortable in this networked world. They’d sleep peacefully at night knowing there is a dam protecting them against the huge ocean that is the internet. It is perhaps in response to this that the European Union is considering passing a law that gives people the right to be forgotten online. Under the law, companies like Google, Yahoo and Facebook would have to comply with users’ request to take their personal information down. Companies failing to do so will be fined 2% of their global earnings. The possibilities seem utopian. Finally, users will have control over every nugget of information floating on the internet. Skeletons that have escaped from the cupboard can simply be deleted. But the internet cannot be easily regulated. Unlike other modes of communication, the internet affects millions of people globally. While the culture of right to be forgotten is engrained in Europe, the Americans hold the right to free speech more sacred. Writing in the Stanford Law Review, Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law, George Washington University, argued that the law is the “biggest threat to free speech on the Internet in the coming decade”. Say a friend clicks a photo of you in a compromising position and uploads it on Facebook. Who does the photo belong to? As per European law, Facebook will have to delete the photo if you request it to. But what about the rights of the person who uploaded the photo? Or the other people in the photo who may want to preserve the memory? The matter gets more complicated when you take into account public figures. Rosen cites a case in Germany where two criminals have asked Wikipedia to delete information about the crimes they committed because they have served their time in prison. Rosen says that this is allowed as per German laws in some cases. The same culture isn’t followed in the US or for that matter in India. Politicians may attempt to delete information from the internet. Doesn’t this infringe the public’s right to information? To be fair, EU officials are aware of the pitfalls, and say that the law will respond to different scenarios to balance the right to be forgotten against the right to information. It is still early days for social networking, and lawmakers will have to tread carefully while regulating the internet. In the meantime for users, the old adage applies — don’t put anything up online that you wouldn’t want your mother to see.