Right to be forgotten and internet: boundaries and implementation regarding new technologies

• Grant number: 13/22403-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: January 01, 2014
• End date: March 08, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Law - Private Law
• Principal Investigator: Cíntia Rosa Pereira de Lima
• Grantee: Cíntia Rosa Pereira de Lima
• Host Investigator: Maria Cristina de Cicco
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Direito de Ribeirão Preto (FDRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi di Camerino (UNICAM), Italy

Abstract

The rise of the network society brought a consolidation of all sort of relationships connected somehow. Such fact is even more complicated within the internet and its applicative, specially the social networks, being the personal relationship ones (e. g. Face book), being the information sharing ones (e.g. YouTube). The problem of these new tools is that information provided online, such as a picture or a video, is there forever. In other words, these data are accessible and latent, so in any moment a commentary or a post can bring back in a catastrophic proportion embarrassing facts. In such context, the right to privacy is not only a negative position meaning the obligation erga omnes that imposes not to interfere in the intimacy of others; to have also a positive meaning by giving the "right of control" over personal data. For that reason, European Union regulated in 1995 the protection of personal data through the Directive 95/46/EC. An achievement of this Directive is the creation of the institution responsible for the implementation of the duties and rights established by the directive. Nevertheless, such protection is insufficient considering the cases when a person does not want your name related to pictures or commentaries, usually embarrassing that were inserted online with or without his or her consent. Because of that, the European Union has announced some modification to its legal framework of personal data protection within the social networks in order to include the so called "right to be forgotten", concerning the right of a person to delete or exclude content or information that might be defamatory combined with a public interest exception and the right to freedom of expression. European courts have held this matter combined such rights to give a solution to a specific case. However this matter presents challenges such as the search for a better definition and its implementation. This research aims to investigate the personal data protection within the European legal framework and its modification regarding the "right to be forgotten", focusing on the Italian model, which has incorporated the EU Directive, so it will serve as a pattern to the Brazilian society and courts. To sum up, one of its objectives is to research in the Italian Autorità Garante in order to comprehend its role to the effective control of personal data within the European Union framework. (AU)