Google and the Right to be Forgotten
What inane nonsense will those silly Europeans dream up next? First it was Oktoberfest, just a beer and brat party by another name. The only way a grown man can be coerced into prancing about in lederhosen is with a large stein of suds. Then they came up with caber tossing, highland games and the hammer throw. The only way a grown man can be convinced to cavort about in a plaid skirt is when he’s loaded up with whiskey. And who invented those national costumes? The only way a full grown Greek man would parade around in this outfit is with a snootfull of Ouzo. So it’s only logical that the European lads and lasses would come up with the ludicrous idea that they are entitled to a right to be forgotten. And then to try and legislate it so the rest of the globe has to forget them to. Who has been the first to try to take advantage of the law? Sleazeballs and balloonmen.
By law Google is required to delete the facts, facts mind you, rock solid indisputable they really happened facts in their search results regarding these actual incidents and behaviors when a person, or legal entity requests it. Too bad Google is a public company, responsible to it’s shareholders who want to make a profit, otherwise Sergey and Larry might be inclined to do the right thing, which is; “Forgive, but never forget.” And now the EU, those geniuses behind the law want to extend it’s reach to include areas global in nature. Yup, search for the history of Vlad the Impaler and if he’s filed a complaint with the EU you won’t find results that state he had a line of 20,000 living corpses on posts for miles along the road leading into Targoviste.
No one has a right to be forgotten, if you are you earned it through a life lived quietly, that never hurt a fly. But the people we should never forget are those whose history we don’t want repeated. Oh, and forget I ever streaked in front of thousands gathered for a small town festival please, thank goodness there was no internet then.