EU to press for 'right to be forgotten' online

EUObserver writes that the EU is in the process of revamping its data privacy rules dating back to 1995 so as to encompass social networks, online data aggregators and the way prosecutors and policemen across the bloc handle personal records.

The Facebook generation knows it. Everything you've posted online can and will be used against you at some point. People have been fired for the party pictures or unthoughtful jokes they've posted online.


Deleting a Facebook account does not help. According to the popular website, users can "reactivate" their accounts at any time: Facebook does not erase your data, its simply hides it from others.


In a bid to stem these developments, the commission is now revising a 15-year-old "Data Protection Directive," drafted before the Google and Facebook booms. New legislative proposals are set to be put forward mid-2011, but the commission has already adopted a "strategy" on how to go about the changes.

One of the principles mentioned is the "right to be forgotten" online, meaning that people who want their online profiles deleted "should be able to rely on the service provider to remove personal data, such as photos, completely

Seen from the American perspective, businesses find it difficult to navigate between the EU laws and the patchwork of national data protection requirements, one US official familiar with this dossier told EUobserver.
"The lack of harmonisation among the member states in terms of interpreting the directive and transposing the directive into national laws led to uncertainty among compliance officers, privacy officers, and legal counsel. These ambiguities result in confusion and a lack of clarity with regard to obligations the business community must meet," said the official, who requested not to be named.

Read the full article here: http://euobserver.com/9/31200/?rk=1