Internet 'Right to be Forgotten' debate hits Spain

[The Northerner]

MADRID (AP) -- Their ranks include a plastic surgeon, a prison guard and a high school principal. All are Spanish, but have little else in common except this: They want old Internet references about them that pop up in Google searches wiped away.

In a case that Google Inc. and privacy experts call a first of its kind, Spain's Data Protection Agency has ordered the search engine giant to remove links to material on about 90 people. The information was published years or even decades ago but is available to anyone via simple searches.

Scores of Spaniards lay claim to a "Right to be Forgotten" because public information once hard to get is now so easy to find on the Internet. Google has decided to challenge the orders and has appealed five cases so far this year to the National Court.

Some of the information is embarrassing, some seems downright banal. A few cases involve lawsuits that found life online through news reports, but whose dismissals were ignored by media and never appeared on the Internet. Others concern administrative decisions published in official regional gazettes.

In all cases, the plaintiffs petitioned the agency individually to get information about them taken down.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_INTERNET_RIGHT_TO_BE_FORGOTTEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-04-20-09-32-05

[Eric J in MN]

1. So a doctor sued for malpractice can stop potential patients from finding out...

...if Google loses the case.

[KittyWampus]

2. Does Freedom of Speech include the RIGHT TO REMEMBER?

[KittyWampus]

3. Recommend cause this could be a great topical debate

[petronius]

4. It certainly opens up a whole bunch of avenues - such as the extent to which people own

information about themselves. My gut is always that info should be as free as possible, but I'm also pulled toward privacy. It could be argued that Google is profiting (at an infinitesimal level) from the use of data about individuals, so perhaps they should have a say.

I will ponder this thread as I go about my day... :)

[Puzzler]

5. Is it Google's fault if the info is already there on the net?

All Google is doing is pointing to it.