In a decision by the EU Court of Justice, the EU-US Safe Harbor arrangement for transmitting personal information was deemed to have inadequate privacy safeguards. The decision arose from strong objections to the surveillance of European persons conducted by NSA. Without an arrangement to provide sufficient privacy protection, digital commerce between North America and Europe […]
right to be forgotten
The European Advantage from Hiding The Past
The “Right to be Forgotten” (RTBF) is a newly minted “human right” within the European Union. It allows individuals to demand the suppression of Internet search results that mentions them in earlier events, such as court proceedings, speeches, and news coverage. This selective editing of history would be of peculiar value to those obligated to […]
Laws to Hide Behind
Personal information in internet sites comes from many sources. People voluntarily put their own information in many places such as Facebook and chat rooms. News sites and blogs publish information about the actions of others. Government property tax and court clerks put information about individuals and corporations on the internet. Those posters usually intend the […]
When Privacy Can be Lethal
The recent airliner crash in Europe raises questions about European privacy laws. A European Union (EU) law known as “the right to be forgotten” is rooted in sentiment that on the Internet, we deserve to control how we are viewed by others. Along the road to that law’s adoption it leaned on evidence from some […]
The Right to Revise Personal History
The European Court of Justice requires Internet search firms to accommodate requests from the pubic who want a story removed from search results when the story links to personal information that is “inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant.” This new right is usually called the “right to be forgotten.” Google has removed search access to an […]