The emergence of the Internet and the wealth of available data on it, coupled with search engines which allow persons to find out almost anything published about a person’s past, has given rise to a significant debate. Does a time come when information becomes so old and possibly irrelevant that a person has a right to restrict its availability – commonly referred to as the Right to be Forgotten?
Though such a right has been recognized in the European Union, it has made no headway in the United States, based on free speech First Amendment concerns and policy arguments against re-writing history. While governmental entities may choose to “erase” information they have through arrest expungement and similar statutes, private actors have not been so limited.
