- Recently, European court of Justice passed a ruling that allowed people to remove embarrassing information from search links by producing proof of the information no longer being valid in the present context.
- Not only would this lead to a flood of petitions to delete information on various grounds, it may also work towards decreasing transparency where under the pretext of protecting personal info, people may hide important aspects of their history.
- A great number of repeat offenders may wade the police and cause grievous harm to unsuspecting victims.
- Potential employers and headhunters may directly be affected in the wake of increasing recruitment from abroad countries, as they may be oblivious to the previous history of their candidates.
- Despite removal of information from Google, it will still be available archivally and in records held by governments. The bona fides of persons can always be verified directly via individual sites, or through overseas contacts.
- The ruling comes in the wake of reform of the 1995 EU personal data protection law that recognizes the right to forget. But the right to be forgotten ought not to be allowed to be abused as a right to be shielded.
- Read at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/not-a-right-to-be-shielded/article6068293.ece
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