March 20, 2011

How would you feel if we Googled you right now and absolutely nothing came up?

For some, it would trigger an existential crisis in the very depths of the soul. But for others, it's the ultimate fantasy. All those drunken photos, that ill-advised post-breakup blog, your Facebook updates, and all those deeply poignant tweets - gone.

Should you have the right to wipe the entire internet clean of any trace of your identity? The European Union thinks so. It's trying to create a legal "right to be forgotten" online, which would allow web users to withdraw their personal data from a website at any time.

Of course, it's a big challenge because information gets copied and distributed at breakneck speed on the world wide web, and when something goes viral, it's easy to lose all control of where it goes.

By the way, next Tuesday night we'll have Canada's Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in the red chair.