Teresa Scassa is the Canada Research Chair in information law and policy at the University of Ottawa, and is a member of the Centre For Law, Technology, And Society. She writes:
Nobody wants to be haunted by false, inaccurate or even just plain embarrassing online personal information. The risks and consequences are such that the protection of online reputation has become an increasingly compelling issue for Canadians. The stakes are even higher for young Canadians who may be forced to deal with the lasting traces of poor adolescent decision-making as adults, not to mention images posted by friends or family without their knowledge or consent. The “right to be forgotten” is the right to have information in the hands of other parties erased or obscured, and it has become a major and evolving issue in Europe, where data protection and privacy laws not only treat privacy as a human right, but are considerably more adapted to technology than the laws in Canada.
Given the high-profile developments in Europe, it is not surprising that Daniel Therrien, the privacy commissioner of Canada, has identified the protection of online reputation as a key area of interest.
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