The right to be forgotten (online)

oppenheimer1

The EU is currently working up proposals on this, that every individual should have the right to be forgotten online after a certain period of time. This would mean that after a defined period, things like facebook posts and forum posts would be expunged if the author requested it.

As you may or may not know, take boards for example, only lets you edit or delete posts for a few days then it is there for eternity. Boards won't delete old posts or accounts for you as a policy and only recently allowed people to close accounts.

Are such policies, like the ones boards (only using boards.ie as an example, there are many other forums with similar policies) has fair? Should people have a right to be forgotten online?

Cee-Jay-Cee

No.

Karl Stein

CJC999 wrote: »

No.

Why do people feel the need to do this? There's an option to vote yes/no yet people will post yes/no without expanding on their reasons.

Why?

MrStuffins

Cathal Cloch wrote: »

Why do people feel the need to do this? There's an option to vote yes/no yet people will post yes/no without expanding on their reasons.

Why?

'cause

Liam90

yes

IM0

probably

bitburger

yes and no,


also, more eu crap that is very difficult to enforce

Ironic vote will get reset over time.

oppenheimer1

bitburger wrote: »

yes and no,


also, more eu crap that is very difficult to enforce

I wouldn't say it would be that difficult to enforce. Say a typical poster around here who doesn't raise the ire of anyone decides that he or she has had enough. They could quietly close and delete their posts without anyone noticing if they were able too.

I think the ability to delete accounts and content(not just close) should be a right as far as is practical. Technically, it would not be a great challenge for the site coders to do it.

hatrickpatrick

I actually think it's pretty fantastic that the internet is "written in ink" to quote The Social Network. For once thing, it makes it a lot harder for politicians to misrepresent their past promises and comments when everything they do and say is on the record.

Senna

Sites like Boards/Facebook etc are private entities, once you post on them the content becomes their property not yours. If you don't want your thoughts/words/information on them, then don't post.

oppenheimer1

Senna wrote: »

Sites like Boards/Facebook etc are private entities, once you post on them the content becomes their property not yours. If you don't want your thoughts/words/information on them, then don't post.

Its not that straightforward. The website is the publisher, not the copyright holder.

Senna

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

Its not that straightforward. The website is the publisher, not the copyright holder.

Do you not give up "copyright" when to agree to the terms and conditions on 99% of websites?

Sarky

Wouldn't be surprised if the proposal was put forward by a politician who'd made a complete tit of him/herself online and wants people to forget about it. It's unworkable and foolish. Have the courage to own your words, don't say something you're worried someone will drag up in future, and carry on posting amusing cat .gifs

JD DABA

the google app called forget-me works pretty good.

Pj!

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I wouldn't say it would be that difficult to enforce. Say a typical poster around here who doesn't raise the ire of anyone decides that he or she has had enough. They could quietly close and delete their posts without anyone noticing if they were able too.

I think the ability to delete accounts and content(not just close) should be a right as far as is practical. Technically, it would not be a great challenge for the site coders to do it.

Obviously deleting posts would make many old threads pointless.

Isn't the ability there to just change a username to something generic like 'deleted user'?

Kirby

Senna wrote: »

Do you not give up "copyright" when to agree to the terms and conditions on 99% of websites?

Yes you do. Only according to them though.....not according to the law.

99% of these agreements people sign aren't binding. They aren't legal and don't stand up to scrutiny in any way.

Hownowcow

What was the question again?

smash

Pj! wrote: »

Obviously deleting posts would make many old threads pointless.

Isn't the ability there to just change a username to something generic like 'deleted user'?

Wouldn't matter. Anyone who's ever quoted you will have your old username in their quote so it's easy to find out who you are.

Grayson

But even then, boards can still delete them at the moment. they'd have to be able to in case they ever got a defamation notice.

I like the idea of the new law. But, i would allow it to be challanged based on the public good. I mean that way a politician couldn't remove a tweet where they insulted a whole demographic.

Rabies

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

The EU is currently working up proposals on this, that every individual should have the right to be forgotten online after a certain period of time. This would mean that after a defined period, things like facebook posts and forum posts would be expunged if the author requested it.

As you may or may not know, take boards for example, only lets you edit or delete posts for a few days then it is there for eternity. Boards won't delete old posts or accounts for you as a policy and only recently allowed people to close accounts.

Are such policies, like the ones boards (only using boards.ie as an example, there are many other forums with similar policies) has fair? Should people have a right to be forgotten online?

If I wrote or signed anything in the real world with my name, then I'm held accountable for it all.
The same should be held for online me.

You can't wipe every trace of your daily life, online should be the same.

Leave it all.

the_syco

If it comes into affect, it'll be harder to find the murderers, the paedophiles, and the communists.

Heck, Adolf Hitler would be erased from history if the law came in, yes?

Dravokivich

No, one contributes at their own free will.

Duggy747

If you're worried about your privacy so much then you shouldn't post up stupid shìt or personal info on social sites like Facebook or Boards that could come back to haunt you.

Lunni

I think we should have the right to delete any comments or information from any website, including this one.

Dravokivich

Lunni wrote: »

I think we should have the right to delete any comments or information from any website, including this one.

And consider the difficulty of quoted posts? Or even things that are made into images?

Lunni

Dravokivich wrote: »

And consider the difficulty of quoted posts? Or even things that are made into images?

The quoted part would be deleted. This is already possible on some sites, such as Youtube, where you can still see replies to comments which have been deleted

The Backwards Man

You can't erase someone's memory of you. You can't send a letter to the tax office then ask them a couple of years later to shred it.

Why should online interactions be any different?

Lunni

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You can't erase someone's memory of you. You can't send a letter to the tax office then ask them a couple of years later to shred it.

Why should online interactions be any different?

Because that's not the same at all. This is a discussion forum, not a formal letter to the tax office. Something you said in a conversation 10 years ago would be long forgotten, so why can't people delete things they said years ago but may not even agree with anymore?

Mr Benevolent

Yes, it should be allowed.

Tazium

Data Protection Act has some elements relating to the lifetime of retained data and it's validity as far as I know.

The Backwards Man

Lunni wrote: »

Because that's not the same at all. This is a discussion forum, not a formal letter to the tax office. Something you said in a conversation 10 years ago would be long forgotten, so why can't people delete things they said years ago but may not even agree with anymore?

It is the same thing. Whether you meant what you said or not, or whether you still agree with it is irrelevant.

Sergeant

I wrote "Sarge wos ere" on a wall in my home town when I was 16. It remains there to this day. I now want the owner of the wall to take it down, and have ordered him to run a bulldozer through it.

Lunni

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It is the same thing. Whether you meant what you said or not, or whether you still agree with it is irrelevant.

How is it the same thing? A conversation you had 10 years ago is forgotten.

Lunni

Sergeant wrote: »

I wrote "Sarge wos ere" on a wall in my home town when I was 16. It remains there to this day. I now want the owner of the wall to take it down, and have ordered him to run a bulldozer through it.

You could paint over it now if you wanted.

Just dont post anything online that you think you're going to regret in the future.

Someone used the example of a conversation.. Thing is that while it may be forgotten, something might happen to make you remember it. You can't erase those memories. It's the same here, pretty much.

It boils down to people owning what they've done and said and taking responsibility for it.

The Backwards Man

Lunni wrote: »

How is it the same thing? A conversation you had 10 years ago is forgotten.

I remember things I said and had said to me all through my life, I can't turn back the clock and erase them, nor would I want to. Good or bad, they are part of what makes who I am in the here and now.

Lunni

Deleted User wrote: »

Just dont post anything online that you think you're going to regret in the future.

Someone used the example of a conversation.. Thing is that while it may be forgotten, something might happen to make you remember it. You can't erase those memories. It's the same here, pretty much.

It boils down to people owning what they've done and said and taking responsibility for it.

I don't think that's fair. Something you said 10 years ago might be vaguely remembered by someone, but it's not there in black and white. We all say things we don't mean in anger and I don't think it's fair that the option to take it back isn't there. Some of my younger cousins use Twitter and post all sorts of rubbish on it. They're being teenagers and they can't really visualise the consequences of their actions yet. I think it's awful that one of my cousins might lose out on a job in the future because she called someone an ugly cow on Twitter when she was 14.

Should definitely be allowed to delete things online, I don't see why people think you shouldn't

I think the results of the poll so far speak for themselves, the people who think online things should be permanent are in the minority by a long way.

If you close your facebook account it already deletes your comments across facebook etc and I think the same should be possible for boards etc. Then if you reopen your account the comments all reappear.

rox5

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

The EU is currently working up proposals on this, that every individual should have the right to be forgotten online after a certain period of time. This would mean that after a defined period, things like facebook posts and forum posts would be expunged if the author requested it.

As you may or may not know, take boards for example, only lets you edit or delete posts for a few days then it is there for eternity. Boards won't delete old posts or accounts for you as a policy and only recently allowed people to close accounts.

Are such policies, like the ones boards (only using boards.ie as an example, there are many other forums with similar policies) has fair? Should people have a right to be forgotten online?

I think we should have a right to be forgotton online. In my teenage years, I used to use Yahoo Answers religiously, and because of the whole growing up, puberty thing (that and also I think I might have had mild depression)
I said some stuff online that I cringe about now, I posted literally all my problems because I had no one to talk to about them in real life, and someone of those questions made me sound a bit crazy, tbh. I thought that because it was such a huge community that no one I know would find me, but unfortunately someone did. It has all passed on now, but I do still hate the thought that those questions still link back to me and I can't delete them at all, even though I don't think that way anymore.

I just think that a lot of people can say stuff online in the heat of the moment or might not be in the right state of mind, and it is not fair to have that on you for the rest of your life. If is was something criminally bad, moderators can delete and inform the police just to be sure.

Besides, I have seen so many posts on here and other places, that are very disturbing and scary, I mean I would rather if people deleted them permanantly instead of just closing them, because who would want to read stuff like that?

AnonoBoy

Lunni wrote: »

Something you said in a conversation 10 years ago would be long forgotten.

You haven't met my ex-wife obviously. :pac:

rox5

Lunni wrote: »

I don't think that's fair. Something you said 10 years ago might be vaguely remembered by someone, but it's not there in black and white. We all say things we don't mean in anger and I don't think it's fair that the option to take it back isn't there. Some of my younger cousins use Twitter and post all sorts of rubbish on it. They're being teenagers and they can't really visualise the consequences of their actions yet. I think it's awful that one of my cousins might lose out on a job in the future because she called someone an ugly cow on Twitter when she was 14.

Exactly what I meant. A lot of teenagers say the most rubbish online, and good majority of them will regret it, and it is not fait that what they did online might come back to haunt them in the future, especially if they are not that type of person anymore. Fair enough, some adults still act like immature teenagers when they are adults who should know better, but thats only a rare minority.

AnonoBoy

rox5 wrote: »

Exactly what I meant. A lot of teenagers say the most rubbish online, and good majority of them will regret it, and it is not fait that what they did online might come back to haunt them in the future, especially if they are not that type of person anymore. Fair enough, some adults still act like immature teenagers when they are adults who should know better, but thats only a rare minority.

Did you use your real name or a made-up username when posting on Yahoo answers?

Dravokivich

rox5 wrote: »

Exactly what I meant. A lot of teenagers say the most rubbish online, and good majority of them will regret it, and it is not fait that what they did online might come back to haunt them in the future, especially if they are not that type of person anymore. Fair enough, some adults still act like immature teenagers when they are adults who should know better, but thats only a rare minority.

If someone was to come up to me with something I said or wrote 10 years ago, out of context and attempt to use it to discredit or undermine me, I'd be of mind that the problem is with them, not with something I'd written long ago.

The Backwards Man

rox5 wrote: »

Exactly what I meant. A lot of teenagers say the most rubbish online, and good majority of them will regret it, and it is not fait that what they did online might come back to haunt them in the future, especially if they are not that type of person anymore. Fair enough, some adults still act like immature teenagers when they are adults who should know better, but thats only a rare minority.

If you're not the same person why would you worry about it? What's past is past.
There's no going back.

rox5

Deleted User wrote: »

Just dont post anything online that you think you're going to regret in the future.

It boils down to people owning what they've done and said and taking responsibility for it.

That's not really fair, when there are people out there who post stuff up who are clearly not right in the head, and even if they got help and got better, that stuff will still haunt them forever, and that is hard for someone who is trying to move on.

Also trying telling that to teenagers who think they are always right. I don't tolerate bulling online, as I think every age should know it is wrong, but a lot of teenagers can post problems and stuff online, or get sucked into the whole "sexting" business, that is not only damaging but dangerous.

the_syco

Everlee Important Flapjack wrote: »

If you close your facebook account it already deletes your comments across facebook etc and I think the same should be possible for boards etc. Then if you reopen your account the comments all reappear.

Once you close your account on boards.ie you cannot reopen it.

Dravokivich

rox5 wrote: »

That's not really fair, when there are people out there who post stuff up who are clearly not right in the head, and even if they got help and got better, that stuff will still haunt them forever, and that is hard for someone who is trying to move on.

Also trying telling that to teenagers who think they are always right. I don't tolerate bulling online, as I think every age should know it is wrong, but a lot of teenagers can post problems and stuff online, or get sucked into the whole "sexting" business, that is not only damaging but dangerous.

The issue there is to enforce or guide a kid/teenager towards responsible web usage, instead of making the web responsible for it.

Lunni

The Backwards Man wrote: »

If you're not the same person why would you worry about it? What's past is past.
There's no going back.

Because painful memories could be dredged up. I imagine a lot of people post things when they're in a dark place and would not like to see them now and definitely wouldn't want friends and family to see them.

The Backwards Man

Lunni wrote: »

Because painful memories could be dredged up. I imagine a lot of people post things when they're in a dark place and would not like to see them now and definitely wouldn't want friends and family to see them.

I'm not an expert on this, but I always believed burying the past was a lot more harmful than accepting it and dealing with it.

As Dravo said, it says a lot more about the person that tries to use it against you than it does about you.

Lunni

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I'm not an expert on this, but I always believed burying the past was a lot more harmful than accepting it and dealing with it.

As Dravo said, it says a lot more about the person that tries to use it against you than it does about you.

That's really idealistic, tbh. I don't think an interviewer googling you for a job has any need to know about what you were going through as a teenager and what he/she finds may well put him/her off offering you a job. Things are hard enough, without your past being dredged up to haunt you.