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EU decision re. Google


Sneckboy

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The ruling made by a senior EU judge to allow folk the 'right to be forgotten' is surely an enormous decision.

 

The floodgates will be open to folk who have 'something to hide'.

Well, that's my take on it.

There will be others who advocate privacy regardless of what's gone before.

 

The most ludicrous aspect for me would be if I deeply regretted, for example, calling Dean Brill a plum or words to that effect - howwver, now, I could get my comments 'hidden' - or rather, the link to this forum, hidden.

Therefore, Sneckboy's application to be a goalkeeping coach wouldn't show up my ignorance, unless one knew to specifically check the ICT-Online forums! 

 

Yet, bizarrely, in Canada, Scotty (for example), could enter 'Sneckboy' and 'goalkeeper' into Google and find out the truth!

This is a very dangerous, and already, If one believes the print media - within one day of the ruling - Google have been inundated by restaurants wishing to hide bad reviews, celebs who have affairs to hide and medics who haven't approved of their rating.

 

I've long abhorred celebrities being able to cover up indiscretions with money - via injunctions, super-injunctions etc as if ability to pay top-dollar negated them from their behaviour.

 

I'd be interested to hear what our communications man, CaleyD makes of this, and indeed, website co-ordinator, Scotty. Good or bad?

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I think it is largely irrelevant .... as you say, I could enter the info into Google.ca or Google.com and because I have a Canadian IP I may (or may not) get the info. Its the same principle as those banning orders that stopped celebrities being named ... all you had to do was surf to an international site and the info was there. 

 

I also wonder where users fall in all of this too .... For example, I, as owner/operator of this website, live in Canada and am governed by Canadian law. The website is registered to me through a US company but depending on the domain suffix (.ca, .co.uk, .com etc) I may deal with their Canadian, US or British offices. Our servers are in the USA and our users are predominantly in the Scotland, UK! so are we bound by Canadian, USA, EU, UK or Scottish law? or all 5? Its a minefield and there is no way it will be enforceable.

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I'm pretty much on the same page as Scotty.  It's one thing to make these rulings, but quite another to have them enforced effectively.

 

If the "worst" were to happen and they tried to enforce removal of content from EU located servers, then all those impacted would simply move hosting overseas...in effect, driving business from their own shores.  Use of VPN's and Proxies to make those servers think you are browsing from elsewhere would be a simple workaround for those seeking the information.  After all...if one person has the right to be forgotten or anonymous, does that same right not extend to those seeking the information?!

 

The internet is no longer cellular and hasn't been for a long time.  Governments can't simply turn on or off residents access to the bits they do or don't want them to see....ask China, it's something they've spent billions upon billions trying to do for years and even they've started to give up on that fight.

 

It's one of those rulings that will become caught up in appeal after appeal while never coming in to force, serving only to provide a living for the lawyers arguing both sides of the case before the world moves on beyond the argument and it becomes irrelevant and forgotten.

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