The Right to be Forgotten and Digital Memory

This deck covers the sociological and legal challenges of the 'right to be forgotten' in the digital age, including key case studies, policy comparisons, and the impact of permanent digital footprints.

Digital concrete

A metaphor for the permanent nature of information in the digital age, where mistakes are broadcast globally and set instantly, unlike the 'pencil and eraser' nature of human memory.

Right to be forgotten

A concept exploring the legal and social gap between the desire to erase outdated or damaging digital pasts and the technological reality of permanent records.

Legal expungement

The process by which a court clears a person's record; however, the transcript notes this is often ineffective online because third-party databases and news sites preserve the information forever.

Lorraine Martin

A woman from Connecticut whose case is used to illustrate the failure of legal expungement, as her dropped charges remained visible on third-party sites indefinitely.

First Amendment

In the US, this provides heavy protection for the press and public records, which often renders expungement statutes powerless against the internet.

Justine Sacco

A case cited where a viral tweet posted before a flight led to an individual being fired by the time she landed, illustrating the reach of 'cancel culture'.

Digital covenant

A comparison made to restrictive property laws where a viral mistake online becomes a permanent clause that locks people out of the workforce.

Civil death

The social and professional consequence where one digital mistake leads to an individual being indefinitely excluded from society and employment.

Employer screening statistic

According to the sources, approximately $91\%$ of employers screen candidates using social media.

Reassemblage error

A term from privacy submissions describing when outdated digital scraps and out-of-context photos are stitched together to create a warped, 'Frankenstein' version of a person's identity.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

An EU regulation that actively enforces a 'right to delete,' allowing citizens to petition to have outdated information de-indexed.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

The US legal approach that grants digital platforms near total immunity for third-party content, often leaving individuals with no recourse to remove information.

Policy void

The current lack of legal frameworks in the US to balance public accountability with human dignity, resulting in a reliance on profit-driven corporate algorithms.