A report on TIME said that Internet users in the US should not expect to privacy protections similar to what Europe will now be able to avail.
A EU top court decision that was recently made now allows its citizens to request a search engine or an online publisher to take down information about them. This means that any of the 500 million people in the EU region can now compel Google, Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo, for example, to remove personal data from the search results, even though if the information is neither unlawful or inaccurate.
TIME said that the decision came as a surprise for companies who offer Web services, and that Google cannot directly appeal the ruling. Moreover, the magazine said that the ruling is an indication that the US and European laws on data protection are now diverging.
The European Union has been observed to emphasize the need to protect the data of its citizens. In the latest ruling, the plaintiff had won to have Google remove links to an old news article that provided information about his debts thanks to a 1995 European Parliament directive which provided extensive protection for personal data. The body has been quoted that the Parliament is currently working on an amendment to the law that will ensure that data protection will be the main priority and not just an afterthought.
Although US was the first one to have introduce the "right to privacy," TIME cited a recent Pew Research Center study which showed that 68% of American Internet users do not believe that US will employ the same protections the Europeans will now be enjoying. Moreover, the US Constitution itself prevents the type of censorship the "right to be forgotten" idea implies.
International director Danny O'Brien at the Electronic Frontier Foundation said, "The First Amendment really does prevent this kind of widespread unpublishing of data. In the US, free speech sort of trumps privacy."
Moreover, privacy protections in the US are in the form of a variety of state and federal laws that are applied to specific groups of individuals.
Nonetheless, TIME said that the EU court ruling will still have global implications that Silicon Valley reportedly views it as an anathema to net neutrality.
