Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
Europe’s highest Court ruled recently on old links that users can find on Google relating to individuals. The case began when a Spanish lawyer found that when he put his own name into Google, the search came up with notices dating back 9 years as to when he was bankrupt and had to sell his property. He said that he had long since sorted out his financial affairs and it was unfair that this information continued to be shown on his record.
He appealed to Google to take the information down, they refused and he brought a court case. Europe’s highest Court has now agreed with him, and so it is going to be a considerable amount of work for Google in future, but people living in Europe will be able to demand that links to bad information about them can be erased after a certain time, unless there are particular reasons why they should not be. The European Court of Justice essentially ordered that Google must allow online users to be “forgotten” and the debate now is whether or not it is good that you cannot check up that the person you are going on a date with, for example, has a very bad track record or a history of bad behaviour. The information will of course still be on the websites, but search engines will be obliged, on request, to remove links to those websites containing older information depending on the circumstances. This would never be allowed in America because of their First Amendment Rights, but it certainly does raise an interesting picture as to whether or not people want, for example, pictures of them drunk, or in a provocative pose in next to nothing which they took in their youth, to follow them around for 15 years. What do you think?
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Wednesday 21-May-14
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Comments
Alexis said:
on Friday 23-May-14 05:53 PM
It is unfair to have things like that still around, people grow up and who they were five years ago is not who they are today. I think they should be deleted after a while
Nicky said:
on Friday 23-May-14 05:05 PM
I think that the Court made a good decision. With internent and technology every aspect of people's lives are accessible to the public although sometimes this is due to the individual him/herself.
Cindy said:
on Friday 23-May-14 04:58 PM
I also think stuff from the past should be removed. Maybe a time frame from 5 years can stay. But I agree with Simone,criminal records is another thing.
Lucretia said:
on Friday 23-May-14 02:23 PM
I have to agree that things need to be removed after a certain amount of time. Circumstances changes and people should be allowed to move on.
Brenda said:
on Friday 23-May-14 10:14 AM
Now my question is, how did his information get to Google in any event, surely institutions like ITC and the like would not be permitted to release such confidential information about a person's financial standing to the internet. And why would he in his right mind post something so personal on the internet? The question remains how did that information get on the internet in the first place. It could be from various sources and institutions and in my opinion, this Lawyer should be taking them to court and not Google which is just a search engine? Maybe i just understand this blog differently to everyone else, but it just boggles my mind as to how that sort of information, being his financial situation, ended up on the internet.
Catherine said:
on Friday 23-May-14 10:01 AM
I think pictures of people having genuine/innocent fun should not really follow them around for ages, lest a future employer makes a wrong impression out of that. When it comes to criminal records however, I believe that is a different thing all together.
Sarah said:
on Friday 23-May-14 09:58 AM
Your past is your past, it should remain in the past.We will make mistakes.
Melissa said:
on Thursday 22-May-14 02:48 PM
Don't post things on the internet that you don't want other people to see. One thing that is sure to happen is, it might catch up with you in the future.
Sinead said:
on Thursday 22-May-14 01:51 PM
It would be nice to have the option to delete whatever you want off any search engine. Then again, you shouldn't be posting stuff that you would later want to remove.... Hmmmm
Jade said:
on Thursday 22-May-14 11:20 AM
Joining the consensus here, everyone makes mistakes.
The internet is still quite young and it is apparent that there are not enough guidelines as to what we should (and SHOULDN'T!) put up on the internet whether you are posting on your blog, or if your friend posts a not-so-hilarious video of you dancing on the bar, with your free Olmeca Tequila cowboy hat, sloshing around a bright pink drink all over the place.
In this case, this man had obviously had a difficult time financially. That was 10 years prior and that information is now redundant. Had it been that he continued to be irresponsible with money, then the post should remain. Thus Google should take this on a case to case basis.
But like they say, once you put something on the internet, it is there forever. It can be retrieved. Even if you complain to Google about it.
Sally said:
on Thursday 22-May-14 10:48 AM
I think it is only fair. Your past should be your past and all of us are human and make mistakes and your past and mistakes should not influence your future but actually be an eye opener and a learning experience.
Angelique said:
on Thursday 22-May-14 09:36 AM
I think people wanting past pictures and information to be removed from google is a great idea and hopefully you don't have to go through the court system to have it done. Its your information and your pictures, I can't see what google gains from having it stay on the net 10 or 15 years later besides the fact that everyone can see what you did 10 years ago.
Jolene said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 05:23 PM
I think its fair, just wondering how Google will manage all the requests, Im sure they will get thousands every day.
Ashleigh said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 05:00 PM
I agree with Elektra. In some cases it should be removed but in some cases like a hectic crime being committed should never be removed. When I use Google, its always for security reasons and relevant information.
Helen said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 03:08 PM
Internet - very dangerous sours of information, and it is amazing how much information gets loaded all over the world on all sorts of different languages on the internet, I always believed that this information can not be erased forever! That is the reason people should be very careful what they load on their Facebook profile. But we all do have rights to be forgiven for mistakes in the past and move on with our lives.
Kaylee said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 02:40 PM
I think its fair, I mean your behavior a couple of years ago when you were a student is unlikely to be your behavior when you start working. Obviously criminal records reflect on anything serious, and that remains in place. How trustworthy is google though, I mean half the information relates to someone else with the same name. I just googled myself, pretty random especially if you search images. I don't know how accurate the internet.
Sorea said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 01:15 PM
I am not entirely sure how they propose to remove these links. I am sure the clever people at google will manage to write some piece of code to exclude certain links from their results. But what about other search engines? If the great google is bound, does that mean that yahoo and those cats are automatically bound or will the people have to schlep all the search engines to court in order to ensure that their old secrets are a little harder to come by?
Monique said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 01:09 PM
People make mistakes and it shouldn't have to follow you for years to come. I think its a good that there is an option to request that google remove same.
Juliet said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 09:41 AM
I think that after a 10 year period you should be allowed to be able to request that search engines remove from their databse anything you don't want others to see about yourself. Give the people the option. Search engines will make it so cumbersome that no one will request it anyway.
Simone said:
on Wednesday 21-May-14 09:37 AM
I think it is actually great, especially if a future employer Google's you and picks up information on you that has long since that date been resolved. Although if you have a criminal record it's another thing...
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
