Across the Atlantic considering other ways

Can users erase the traces of day after day on the Internet Can retrieve the memory of a search engine data indexed without respite on their purchase, their political views or religious behavior, or even their health With the massive development of cameras for video surveillance, Geolocation, RFID chips and the files in any systems kind, private inevitably reduces. "Today, privacy and public space are interrelated to form more than." "As far as the user, often fiché unwittingly, becomes also deliberately"ficheur"", stressed the CNIL the 30th Conference global computing and freedoms, organized in Strasbourg last October.

The craze for sharing such as Facebook or MySpace sites still increases this phenomenon. "Paradoxically, the younger generations of Internet users are themselves finger geared through their blog or a social network site the most intimate data." "They do not measure the scope of these revelations, which may impact determining their future for example, during the examination of their application" for a job, insists Vincent Dufief, lawyer to the bar of Paris.

Correct or remove

The risks of computer science, the legislature has provided since long a right to oblivion. It is the result of the association of several provisions contained in the European directive of 24 October 1995 on the protection of privacy. First, the files should not maintain data beyond the period necessary for their treatment.Providers of access to the Internet (ISP), for example, must not store more than a year the IP addresses of their clients. Data holders have also a right of access, with a right of rectification and deletion on erroneous or outdated data (read below). These provisions have been incorporated in France to the law Informatique et Libertés of 6 January 1978.

Despite this, on the Internet, the exercise of the right to forget faces several obstacles. When the surfer manages to erase his data (most often through an online form sent to the processor), there is no guarantee that before this approach, the disputed file did not already began to expand on the Internet. Identify the set of treatments with relayed sensitive information is left to the impossible mission.

In addition, outside Europe, the legislation is not harmonized. U.S. law does not recognize the right to oblivion, and the information collected by Google or Facebook, whose head office is located in the United States, may remain stored indefinitely.

Alert miners

Since last April, however, negotiations are open between the European Commissioners for Data Protection and the search engine giant. "Google has agreed to set at 12 months the duration of storage of personal data, while the CNIL and its European counterparts advocated a retention period of six months maximum." "New meetings with the representatives of Google and Facebook are planned in the coming months," said Alex Türk, President of the CNIL.

Other practical measures are envisaged at the international level. On social networks, the 60 countries gathered at the World Conference and freedoms are favourable to an "opt-in" system, which would allow young Internet users to the conservation of sensitive information. They also advocate a detailed information for the benefit of minors on the risks for a broad dissemination of personal data.

Across the Atlantic, considering other ways. "To restore forgotten on the Internet, Web sites should have software capable of autoprogrammer the erasure of the data at the end of a legal retention period." The device could be applied uniformly throughout the world. "In all cases, it must associate the Act technology", suggests Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Professor of public law at the University of Harvard. "The creation of such tools is in the right direction, although it should be still technical barriers to their implementation", confirms Alex Türk.

A first step has been crossed by the American search engine Ask. "A simple click on the"ask eraser"function, which is displayed at the top of the site, users can delete their personal data," explains Irene Toporkoff, former DG at Ask France. This function, now accessible only from the American and English sites, could soon be extended to the France to the Spain, the Germany...

Keep control

However, are service providers really ready to review their data management policy "The economic model of most of the search engines and of community sites is based on the long-term of a maximum of data archiving, said Vincent Dufief." Allow users to exercise their right to oblivion of simple and effective way could kill the goose egg of gold.

In France, the Government has to submit the right to oblivion to the order of the day. The digital plan for 2012, presented on October 20 by Eric Besson, Secretary of State for the foresight and the development of the digital economy, insists on the importance of this law in the protection of privacy. Because, ultimately, "the user must retain control of the information being disseminated", indicates the point 45 of this plan. The CNIL has been chosen to issue a recommendation on this subject. A challenge which involves strengthening emergency cooperation between States.