Search engines and the "right to be forgotten"
Articles that you wish could be forgotten sometimes have this pesky habit of reappearing due to search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing, which collate material about a particular subject or person.
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Newspaper articles that you wish could be forgotten sometimes have this pesky habit of reappearing due to search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing, which collate material about a particular subject or person. If you “Google” yourself, you may be surprised with the results! Unfortunately, this can have very negative consequences for people looking for jobs (or dates!) if there are articles that you would rather forget from years ago which tarnish the search of your name.
In Europe, a Spanish national spent many years in various courts fighting to have an article removed from a Google search which reported about the bank foreclosing on his house. Eventually, the European Court of Justice described “the Right to be Forgotten” and gave European Union citizens the right to ask search engines to remove certain search results if they were very outdated, inaccurate or prejudicial.
Unfortunately, there is no such luck in South Africa currently, and we do not have the right to ask Google or other search engines to remove content about us. This may change in the near future when the Protection of Personal Information Act finally becomes enforced, but it will be in quite narrow circumstances. It is in instances like this were the internet is a real hindrance to people that have turned their life around or been accused unfairly in the past. Hopefully there will be a remedy soon.
VERLIE OOSTHUIZEN
Shepstone & Wylie Social Media Law Department