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
- court of justice = tribunal de justice
- recently = recentemente
- ruled in a case = decidiu em um caso
- Internet search engine = motor (site) de busca na internet
- must sometimes = deve algumas vezes
- request = pedido
- personal= pessoal
- led to = conduziu a
- right to be forgotten = direito de ser esquecido
- asking = perguntando
- which = o que (escolha restrita)
- privacy = privacidade
- freedom = liberdade
- company = empresa
- has provided = tem fornecido
- business leaders = lideres de negocios
- movie stars = estrelas de cinema
- remove from = retirar de
- went to = foram para
- maybe = talvez
- showing up in Google = aparecendo no google
- even though = apesar de
- paid their dues = pagaram suas dividas
- head = chefe, lider
- agrees with = concorda com
- consider the ability = considerar a habilidade
- core of free expression = nucleo da liberdade de expressão
- choose = escolhemos
- disagree with = discordar de
- ruling = decisão (tribunal)
- likely = provavel
- news aggregators = agregadores de noticias
- to be found = ser encontrado
- take it down = tirar-lo
- breaks = quebra
- Spanish lawyer = advogado espanhol
- was old and no longer important = era antiga e não mais importante
- free press = imprensa livre
- indirectly = indiretamente
- must be protected = deve ser protegido
- blow = golpe
- simply because = simplesmente porque
- they would rather not be available = eles prefeririam não estivesse disponivel
- disagrees = discorda
- judges = juizes
- did a good job of balancing = fizeram um bom trabalho em equilibrar
- has done = tem feito
- search = busca, pesquisa
- in a way = de uma forma
- court ruling = decisão do tribunal
- costly = caro(a)
- it is not expected to affect = espera-se que não afete