The Right to Forget, Obliterate, Erase Defending Personal Data Privacy in the Digital Age

摘要

The right to be forgotten ("RTBF") encompasses personal privacy and free speech and affects society, law, and policy. Analyzing and understanding the RTBF has important policy implications not just for private citizens, lawmakers, and search engine operators, but for the information studies field as well. This paper explores the impact of forgetting by critiquing European and U.S. privacy viewpoints and legal reactions and by analyzing the social impact of revenge pornography, a current RTBF issue. Applying a theory of intellectual privacy, the paper recommends that U.S. scholars, lawyers, and legislators reframe the American perception of the RTBF and concludes that at least a qualified RTBF is not a free speech violation but a necessary privacy right in the digital age.