There is a right discussed and implemented– to a modest extent in Europe– that I adore: the right to be forgotten.
It’s almost poetic, and profound– everyone should have the right to be forgotten. If you choose to no longer participate in a certain group or club or service, you should have the right to have all of your personal information and records expunged.
You might even consider not participating in society anymore. Look around. It’s been a very bad year for humanity. If you came to the conclusion that most people are idiots and you would like to avoid as much contact with them as you can, you should be able to withdraw and be “forgotten”.
This is by no means a new right. It was first considered seriously by future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in 1890.
Of course, it’s probably impossible. Even if, say, Facebook cooperated, your information could easily have been copied or stored somewhere else. In fact, we know that it has been copied and stored elsewhere, without your knowledge or consent. The discussions in Europe swirl around the issue. Why shouldn’t you have the right to delete all the information collected about you while browsing or shopping on-line or traveling?
Why do so-called “conservatives” in the U.S. absolutely relish the opportunity they now have to take away as many of those rights as possible and hand all of your information over to corporations to use as they please? Because they are not really conservative at all: they are hot-headed radicals who want to transform society into one massive technological feeding trough for the corporate jackals that fund their election campaigns.
That should be illegal.
Do you want to buy anything, ever? You could try to shop only in person, using cash. It would reduce your choices.
On the other hand, if you could delete all traces of you from your Facebook account, it would not be as easy for someone to casually look you up, and judge you based on what might have been casual comments or impulsively posted photos, or friends you no longer communicate with, other than through Facebook.
Most people don’t want to be forgotten. They want to live forever, like Flashdance.
[whohit]The Right to be Forgotten[/whohit]