quarta-feira, 28 de maio de 2014

66. Can You Erase Information on the Internet?


The European Court of Justice1 recently2 ruled in a case3 involving the Internet search engine4 Google.  The court ruled that Google must sometimes5, on request6, remove links to reports containing personal7 information. 

The case has led to8 a public debate about this “right to be forgotten9.”  Many people are now asking10, which11 is more important: the right to privacy12 or the freedom13 of information?

Glenn Gabe is president of G-Squared Interactive.  The company14 has provided15 digital marketing services to businesses, business leaders16 and movie stars17.  He says many people have something in their past that they would like to remove from18 the Internet.

“They went to19 prison, right?  And maybe20 10 years ago everything happened and everything’s still showing up in Google21 on page one, even though22 they’ve paid their dues23.”

Marc Rotenberg is head24 of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.  He agrees with25 the European Court of Justice that privacy is a basic right.

“You have to consider the ability26 of individuals to control the dissemination of information about themselves.  That is, in many respects, the core of free expression27 – how we choose28 to express ourselves or not to say things or do things – that’s, you know, it makes us human.”

In the United States, a number of privacy activists disagree with29 the European court’s Google ruling30.  Jules Polonetsky is head of a group called the Future of Privacy Forum.  He says the ruling is likely31 to limit the freedom of information.

“So if someone can tell search engines or news aggregators32 or maybe bloggers, ‘Sorry, that information tells us about some individual, that individual doesn’t want to be found33.  You need to take it down34,’ the effects really could be dramatic.  It breaks35 the Internet.”

The European Court ordered Google to remove links containing personal information about a Spanish lawyer36.  He asked the company to take down links to his 1998 tax problems because the information was old and no longer important37.

The right to a free press38 is noted in the United States Constitution, but the right to privacy is suggested only indirectly39.                

Jules Polonetsky says the right to public information must be protected40.

 “So it’s a real blow41 to transparency if legal, public information can be obscured simply because42 somebody decides that it’s information that they would rather not be available43.”

Marc Rotenberg disagrees44.  He says the European judges45 did a good job of balancing46 privacy with press freedom.

“And what the European Court of Justice has done47 with this decision is to say, in effect, you know, search48 is an important service, but it has to be done in a way49 that protects privacy.”

The court ruling50 will be costly51 for Google and other search engines in Europe.  But it is not expected to affect52 their U.S. operations any time soon.

Vocabulary


  1. court of justice = tribunal de justice
  2. recently = recentemente
  3. ruled in a case = decidiu em um caso
  4. Internet search engine = motor (site) de busca na internet
  5. must sometimes = deve algumas vezes
  6. request = pedido
  7. personal= pessoal
  8. led to = conduziu a
  9. right to be forgotten = direito de ser esquecido
  10. asking = perguntando
  11. which = o que (escolha restrita)
  12. privacy = privacidade
  13. freedom = liberdade
  14. company = empresa
  15. has provided = tem fornecido
  16. business leaders = lideres de negocios
  17. movie stars = estrelas de cinema
  18. remove from = retirar de
  19. went to = foram para
  20. maybe = talvez
  21. showing up in Google = aparecendo no google
  22. even though = apesar de
  23. paid their dues = pagaram suas dividas
  24. head = chefe, lider
  25. agrees with = concorda com
  26. consider the ability = considerar a habilidade
  27. core of free expression = nucleo da liberdade de expressão
  28. choose = escolhemos
  29. disagree with = discordar de
  30. ruling = decisão (tribunal)
  31. likely = provavel
  32. news aggregators = agregadores de noticias
  33. to be found = ser encontrado
  34. take it down = tirar-lo
  35. breaks = quebra
  36. Spanish lawyer = advogado espanhol
  37. was old and no longer important = era antiga e não mais importante
  38. free press = imprensa livre
  39. indirectly = indiretamente
  40. must be protected = deve ser protegido
  41. blow = golpe
  42. simply because = simplesmente porque
  43. they would rather not be available = eles prefeririam não estivesse disponivel
  44. disagrees = discorda
  45. judges = juizes
  46. did a good job of balancing = fizeram um bom trabalho em equilibrar
  47. has done = tem feito
  48. search = busca, pesquisa
  49. in a way = de uma forma
  50. court ruling = decisão do tribunal
  51. costly = caro(a)
  52. it is not expected to affect = espera-se que não afete