It isn’t easy to keep a good reputation on the net, because there’s just no general online right to be forgotten. It is a fact that public data, links, or images are found by search engines and can be copied or stored by third parties. Therefore, it is often quite difficult to identify and contact the source of information. A deletion is then, usually, connected with some effort, be it time, nerves, or money.
On this blog we have already discussed many times before, that the demand for a right to be forgotten is quite unrealistic. Indeed, there also is a right to be remembered.
Apart from that, it is very difficult or even impossible to technically implement a right to be forgotten on the Internet. Not to mention the legal interpretation of a globally applicable “right to be forgotten”. Additionally, there is also the “right to be remembered” on the net. It would certainly be wrong, if a convicted criminal, for example, refers to his right to be forgotten and would wipe away his digital life. Here, freedom of press and public need for information are two important keywords.
What is the solution then?
We must come to the point where users consider what they post on the Internet about themselves or others.