UK pushes for opt out of EU’s ‘right to be forgotten‘ legislation
Britain’s Ministry of Justice is pushing for an opt out from new EU’s data protection legislation which would force internet firms to delete users personal data should they request it.
Dubbed the ‘right to be forgotten’ it is being championed as a mechanism to rebalance the web in favour of the interests of individuals but British ministers are concerned the proposed controls will make only a modest dent on the way in which data is retained by websites.
Complaints have been rising across the continent from web browsers concerned about the potentially harmful effect on their reputations of inaccurate, malicious or outdated information held online.
The Data Protection Legislation has yet to be formally ratified but if they were any organisations which failed to comply would be hit with punitive fines.
Rules currently in place grant individuals the right to have information deleted – but only if it is factually incorrect.
In a statement the MoJ said: “The UK does not support the right to be forgotten as proposed by the European commission. The title raises unrealistic and unfair expectations of the proposals."