[IRPCoalition] Fwd: IFLA issues Statement on Right to be Forgotten

[IRPCoalition]

  Fyi below from the IFLA; an important addition to the discussion at 
IGF2015 inWorkshop 31 <http://sched.co/4bRm>

*IFLA issues Statement on Right to be Forgotten*

¼òÌåÖÐÎÄ <http://www.ifla.org/node/10275>

The ¡°Right to be Forgotten¡± refers to an individual¡¯s ability to 
request that a search engine (or other data provider) remove links to 
information about himself or herself from search results. IFLA¡¯s 
Governing Board has approved a statement on the ¡°Right to be 
Forgotten¡± that highlights crucial issues that libraries must consider 
when participating in discussions about data privacy, and identifies 
areas of concern that could have negative effects on long-term access to 
information. IFLA has noted the global application of the Right to be 
Forgotten within court rulings and legislation and has also issued a 
background paper to accompany the statement.

The right to be forgotten raises issues for libraries including the 
integrity of and access to the historical record, freedom of access to 
information and freedom of expression, and individual privacy. 
Information on the public Internet may have value for the public or for 
professional researchers and so should, in general, not be intentionally 
hidden, removed or destroyed. IFLA finds that freedom of access to 
information cannot be honoured where information is removed from 
availability or is destroyed. IFLA accepts the necessity of protecting 
the privacy of living persons, the confidentiality of business and the 
security of government information insofar as these goals do not 
conflict with a higher public good.

IFLA urges library professionals to participate in policy discussions 
about the right to be forgotten, while both supporting the right to 
privacy for individual citizens and assisting individuals in their 
searches for information.  To this effect, library professionals should:

  * Raise awareness among policy makers to ensure that the right to be
    forgotten does not apply where retaining links in search engine
    results is necessary for historical, statistical and research
    purposes; for reasons of public interest; or for the exercise of the
    right of freedom of expression.
  * Fully support access to information for researchers who require
    personally identifiable information for biographical, genealogical
    and other research and publications, and advocate to policy makers
    when policy related to the right to be forgotten may result in the
    destruction or loss of access to information for these purposes.
  * Oppose the removal of links from the results of name searches of
    public figures.
  * Advocate for transparency in the criteria and processes used by
    search engines in RTBF decisions.
  * Continue to promote the practice of name indexing to ensure the
    continued availability of content for historical and research purposes.
  * Advise library users, in national or regional contexts where a right
    to be forgotten regime may be in force, to search the Internet
    through more than one national instance of a search engine, and with
    a variety of search terms, so as to maximize their chances of
    locating desired information that may have been published on the
    Internet.
  * Support individuals who request assistance in finding more
    information on the application of the right to be forgotten to their
    individual circumstances.

Read the full IFLA Statement on the Right to be Forgotten and the 
background paper:

  * Full Statement <http://www.ifla.org/node/10272>

  * Background paper
    <http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/clm/statements/rtbf_background.pdf> [PDF]


The statement was jointly drafted by members of the IFLA Freedom of 
Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE) committee and 
the Copyright and Other Legal Matters (CLM) committee.

Additional translations of the /IFLA Statement on the Right to be 
Forgotten/ to follow shortly.

Also see the web version: http://www.ifla.org/node/10273



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