The right to oblivion : what’s in the name?

Abstract

The newly proposed European Union (EU) right to be forgotten and to erasure (or, as it has become known, the right to oblivion) has recently attracted considerable attention of the general press, academia and practicing lawyers. Some authors, reassured by Commissioner Reding that “the right to be forgotten cannot amount to a right of the total erasure of history”, endorse the view that under the new rule “Internet users control the data they put online, not the references in media or anywhere else.” Others are still not convinced. Thus, in a piece published in the Stanford Law Revue Online on February 13 of this year, Prof. Jeffrey Rosen discusses the proposed right as provided for by a draft EU General Data Protection Regulation7 that would replace the Directive 95/46/EC.