Quote from: AP
Internet 'Right to be Forgotten' debate hits Spain
By CIARAN GILES
Associated Press
MADRID (AP) -- Their ranks include a plastic surgeon, a prison guard and a high school principal. All are Spanish, but have little else in common except this: They want old Internet references about them that pop up in Google searches wiped away.
In a case that Google Inc. and privacy experts call a first of its kind, Spain's Data Protection Agency has ordered the search engine giant to remove links to material on about 90 people. The information was published years or even decades ago but is available to anyone via simple searches.
Scores of Spaniards lay claim to a "Right to be Forgotten" because public information once hard to get is now so easy to find on the Internet. Google has decided to challenge the orders and has appealed five cases so far this year to the National Court.
Some of the information is embarrassing, some seems downright banal. A few cases involve lawsuits that found life online through news reports, but whose dismissals were ignored by media and never appeared on the Internet. Others concern administrative decisions published in official regional gazettes.
In all cases, the plaintiffs petitioned the agency individually to get information about them taken down.
And while Spain is backing the individuals suing to get links taken down, experts say a victory for the plaintiffs could create a troubling precedent by restricting access to public information.
The issue isn't a new one for Google, whose search engine has become a widely used tool for learning about the backgrounds about potential mates, neighbors and co-workers. What it shows can affect romantic relationships, friendships and careers.
For that reason, Google regularly receives pleas asking that it remove links to embarrassing information from its search index or least ensure the material is buried in the back pages of its results. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., almost always refuses in order to preserve the integrity of its index.
A final decision on Spain's case could take months or even years because appeals can be made to higher courts. Still, the ongoing fight in Spain is likely to gain more prominence because the European Commission this year is expected to craft controversial legislation to give people more power to delete personal information they previously posted online.
"This is just the beginning, this right to be forgotten, but it's going to be much more important in the future," said Artemi Rallo, director of the Spanish Data Protection Agency. "Google is just 15 years old, the Internet is barely a generation old and they are beginning to detect problems that affect privacy. More and more people are going to see things on the Internet that they don't want to be there."
Many details about the Spaniards taking on Google via the government are shrouded in secrecy to protect the privacy of the plaintiffs. But the case of plastic surgeon Hugo Guidotti vividly illustrates the debate.
In Google searches, the first link that pops up is his clinic, complete with pictures of a bare-breasted women and a muscular man as evidence of what plastic surgery can do for clients. But the second link takes readers to a 1991 story in Spain's leading El Pais newspaper about a woman who sued him for the equivalent of euro5 million for a breast job that she said went bad.
I haven't kept track of how many times in my career I've been asked to take things "off the internet" by clueless executives who don't like what they find when they google themselves or the company. Or how many times I've had to give the "it doesn't work that way" speech. I don't think this thing is really that feasible. OTOH, the data compiler sites like spokeo and such are really quite evil. Outlawing that might work, but even that is a long shot.
Googling my name brings up a wrestling promoter and an old Australian rugby star.
I think I'm safe.
It's a sensible idea, but it's also a bit like putting a genie back in the bottle. The very good, and very bad, thing about information is that the cost of copying it and distributing it is nearly zero. If you want privacy, the only thing you can really do is change your name to John Smith.
I have 20 aliases.
Yeah, but everyone can connect your aliases to your real name, Mr. Monkey Butt.
Soon there will be a business generating fake profiles to knock people down the list of google results.
Quote from: starbright on April 20, 2011, 07:32:51 PM
Soon there will be a business generating fake profiles to knock people down the list of google results.
There are already reputation defenders who get paid to knock your search results down by whatever means necessary.
I wonder what the plastic surgeon, prison guard and high school principal are known for.
Ah, I found out. Malpractice and fears of terrorism. Also someone murdered some people once, but did so while he was insane, and he's not anymore so he doesn't want to people to know about it.
Typical Spaniards. Liars and scum, all of them.
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 20, 2011, 07:22:20 PM
Googling my name brings up a wrestling promoter and an old Australian rugby star.
I think I'm safe.
Given that I share a name with a pro baseball player and several self-styled "world leaders" in Christianity and Christian music, I don't have to worry about PageRank yielding any unpleasantness about me... ;)
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 20, 2011, 08:20:45 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 20, 2011, 07:22:20 PM
Googling my name brings up a wrestling promoter and an old Australian rugby star.
I think I'm safe.
Given that I share a name with a pro baseball player and several self-styled "world leaders" in Christianity and Christian music, I don't have to worry about PageRank yielding any unpleasantness about me... ;)
That's just what you want us to think, Reverend A. Rodriguez. :ph34r:
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 20, 2011, 08:33:29 PM
That's just what you want us to think, Reverend A. Rodriguez. :ph34r:
:P Bah. My real name's kind of an open secret, since it's so common it wouldn't do anybody any good to know it. Also, another hint: this guy was drafted into MLB in 2002.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 20, 2011, 08:39:52 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 20, 2011, 08:33:29 PM
That's just what you want us to think, Reverend A. Rodriguez. :ph34r:
:P Bah. My real name's kind of an open secret, since it's so common it wouldn't do anybody any good to know it. Also, another hint: this guy was drafted into MLB in 2002.
Yeah, I have the same name as an actor and two politicians. It takes a lot of pages of google results to get to me.
I have the same name as a guy in Wisconsin. There was once a confusion about it at Best Buy.
Was surprised to find my picture on the first page after seaching for my name.. it links to a guy from Iowa though. :unsure:
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 20, 2011, 09:03:56 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 20, 2011, 08:39:52 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 20, 2011, 08:33:29 PM
That's just what you want us to think, Reverend A. Rodriguez. :ph34r:
:P Bah. My real name's kind of an open secret, since it's so common it wouldn't do anybody any good to know it. Also, another hint: this guy was drafted into MLB in 2002.
Yeah, I have the same name as an actor and two politicians. It takes a lot of pages of google results to get to me.
The best I can do is a former NBA player/now assistant coach.
Quote from: DGuller on April 20, 2011, 07:24:20 PM
It's a sensible idea, but it's also a bit like putting a genie back in the bottle. The very good, and very bad, thing about information is that the cost of copying it and distributing it is nearly zero. If you want privacy, the only thing you can really do is change your name to John Smith.
The thing is, where does it end? If you let people force google to remove links to embarassing info about them, do you next try to force the sites those links lead to to remove the information as well? And then go to print newspapers and force them to purge their archives, and TV news operations to erase old video?
Quote from: dps on April 21, 2011, 03:12:29 AM
Quote from: DGuller on April 20, 2011, 07:24:20 PM
It's a sensible idea, but it's also a bit like putting a genie back in the bottle. The very good, and very bad, thing about information is that the cost of copying it and distributing it is nearly zero. If you want privacy, the only thing you can really do is change your name to John Smith.
The thing is, where does it end? If you let people force google to remove links to embarassing info about them, do you next try to force the sites those links lead to to remove the information as well? And then go to print newspapers and force them to purge their archives, and TV news operations to erase old video?
Removing it from the search engines is a pretty huge step and makes the information far less accessible. I don't think it's an unreasonable request even if I doubt the possibility of practically implementing it for mass use.
Googling my name brings up a marketing specialist, a nerd, a drunken fratboy and a right wing Drudge-style blogger.
I used to come up first on Google few months ago. Is my: fame slipping? :cry:
Quote from: Martinus on April 21, 2011, 03:22:40 AM
Googling my name brings up a marketing specialist, a nerd, a drunken fratboy and a right wing Drudge-style blogger.
I used to come up first on Google few months ago. Is my: fame slipping? :cry:
Maybe your schizo tendencies have been acting out. :hmm:
Not in UK google..........still #1 :lol:
Googling my name reveals hundreds of thousands of matches, including a guy who lives in my city and has the same profession as me. :hmm:
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on April 21, 2011, 09:45:19 AM
Googling my name reveals hundreds of thousands of matches, including a guy who lives in my city and has the same profession as me. :hmm:
A doppelgänger! :ph34r:
I lead a virtuous life. :)
hehe, not sure if I've mentioned it on here before, but when I was growing up I had a quasi-doppelganger living near me. He was some kid in a Boy Scout troop in either my county or the neighboring one. Whenever we'd go to jamborees and shit like that kids from his troop, as well as leaders, were always mistaking me for him and vice versa. The odd thing is that I never actually met him.... :hmm:
Quote from: Malthus on April 21, 2011, 01:11:08 PM
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on April 21, 2011, 09:45:19 AM
Googling my name reveals hundreds of thousands of matches, including a guy who lives in my city and has the same profession as me. :hmm:
A doppelgänger! :ph34r:
Or, you know, PP. :P
Think I've mentioned this before, but back when I lived in Hillsville, my doctor had another patient with the same name as mine, including the same middle name, and the same date of birth. The doctor's office had to use our Social Security numbers and addresses to tell us apart.
BTW, my facebook page comes up first when I google my name if I include my middle name. Otherwise, I'm way down on the list, even if I include my middle initial.
Quote from: DGuller on April 20, 2011, 07:24:20 PM
It's a sensible idea, but it's also a bit like putting a genie back in the bottle. The very good, and very bad, thing about information is that the cost of copying it and distributing it is nearly zero. If you want privacy, the only thing you can really do is change your name to John Smith.
Or Mary Williams. :)
Interesting way to see how common your name really is:
http://howmanyofme.com/search/
There are approximately 3,400 people with my name in the US, according to this. And that's not including an alternate way to spell my last name that I generally see as valid.
There are "1 or fewer" people in the U.S. with my name.
Quote
The estimates for one or both names are not absolute. There may be fewer people with this name, or none at all. Click here for more details.
QuoteMaryann Williams
There are 77,988 people in the U.S. with the first name Maryann.
Statistically the 622nd most popular first name.
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Maryann are female.
There are 1,773,950 people in the U.S. with the last name Williams.
Statistically the 3rd most popular last name.
There are 443 people in the U.S. named Maryann Williams.
I spell my name differently, but same idea. For Mary Williams, I get this:
QuoteMary Williams
There are 4,114,621 people in the U.S. with the first name Mary.
Statistically the 5th most popular first name.
There are 1,773,950 people in the U.S. with the last name Williams.
Statistically the 3rd most popular last name.
There are 23,398 people in the U.S. named Mary Williams.
I will be VERY happy to change my name on Monday. :D
63 with my name
Also, there are 3 Edward Teaches and 4 Peter Wiggins.
"One or fewer" for me.
It surprises me that there are so very few Hagmans in the US.
83 with my exact name.
And I've found at least a dozen or so of them on facebook.
One or fewer, with less than 116 of my last name. :cool:
Quote from: Barrister on April 22, 2011, 12:26:33 PM
One or fewer, with less than 116 of my last name. :cool:
From the site:
QuoteThere are fewer than 116 people in the U.S. with the last name Hitler.
and
QuoteThere are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Adolph Hitler.
:unsure:
417 with mine; and 5,000,000 Americans named "Robert"
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 22, 2011, 10:36:45 AM
Interesting way to see how common your name really is:
http://howmanyofme.com/search/
There are approximately 3,400 people with my name in the US, according to this. And that's not including an alternate way to spell my last name that I generally see as valid.
Wow, I only got 24.
Luckily, one is a marginal athlete, so he comes up when I google my name.
I bet if I went back to the Spanish spelling, it'd be 1 or fewer, though.
Quote from: Savonarola on April 22, 2011, 12:54:27 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 22, 2011, 12:26:33 PM
One or fewer, with less than 116 of my last name. :cool:
From the site:
QuoteThere are fewer than 116 people in the U.S. with the last name Hitler.
and
QuoteThere are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Adolph Hitler.
:unsure:
:lol:
42 people with my name.
And these Spaniards are about as dumb as our little Timmay who keeps crying to Neil to obscure his name on this forum all the time. :lmfao:
Does Tim not want his name on the forum? I guess I'll stop doing that then.
Yes he's PM'd me on a few occasions, i ignore it and he runs to Neil to have it changed.
Quote from: Ideologue on April 22, 2011, 04:36:59 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 22, 2011, 10:36:45 AM
Interesting way to see how common your name really is:
http://howmanyofme.com/search/
There are approximately 3,400 people with my name in the US, according to this. And that's not including an alternate way to spell my last name that I generally see as valid.
Wow, I only got 24.
Luckily, one is a marginal athlete, so he comes up when I google my name.
I bet if I went back to the Spanish spelling, it'd be 1 or fewer, though.
Huntero? :unsure:
I'll refer to Tim as 'Fuckface' from now on.
The site claims that I am the only person with my name, but I know there's at least one another based on facebook.
Maybe it's a fan operated page?
Quote from: stjaba on April 22, 2011, 05:26:58 PM
The site claims that I am the only person with my name, but I know there's at least one another based on facebook.
are you using full name or shortened?
If i say Josh Gamez i get 2
if i use joshua gamez i get 42
:lol:
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on April 22, 2011, 05:07:26 PM
Quote from: Ideologue on April 22, 2011, 04:36:59 PM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 22, 2011, 10:36:45 AM
Interesting way to see how common your name really is:
http://howmanyofme.com/search/
There are approximately 3,400 people with my name in the US, according to this. And that's not including an alternate way to spell my last name that I generally see as valid.
Wow, I only got 24.
Luckily, one is a marginal athlete, so he comes up when I google my name.
I bet if I went back to the Spanish spelling, it'd be 1 or fewer, though.
Huntero? :unsure:
My last name. :lol:
Quote from: katmai on April 22, 2011, 05:05:56 PM
Yes he's PM'd me on a few occasions, i ignore it and he runs to Neil to have it changed.
I guess I'll stop doing that then. -_-
Quote from: DontSayBanana on April 22, 2011, 10:36:45 AM
Interesting way to see how common your name really is:
http://howmanyofme.com/search/
There are approximately 3,400 people with my name in the US, according to this. And that's not including an alternate way to spell my last name that I generally see as valid.
There is one or fewer people with my name. Now I have a mission, I must tracked down, and find this person and depending on my mood capture or kill him.
•There are 3,695,095 people in the U.S. with the first name David.
•Statistically the 7th most popular first name.
•There are 67,866 people in the U.S. with the last name Stokes.
•Statistically the 510th most popular last name.
David Stokes
•There are 804 people in the U.S. named David Stokes.
Any chance you have any relations in eastern Alabama David P. Stokes?
My neighbors were named Stokes when I was growing up.
My name finds a lot of stuff on a Swedish math professor and some stuff about me that I don't need wiped off the internet, e.g. the title of my master's thesis in a list at my university or my name on an academic publication etc.
1 or fewer in the US. :yeah:
Quote from: Savonarola on April 22, 2011, 12:54:27 PM
Quote from: Barrister on April 22, 2011, 12:26:33 PM
One or fewer, with less than 116 of my last name. :cool:
From the site:
QuoteThere are fewer than 116 people in the U.S. with the last name Hitler.
and
QuoteThere are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Adolph Hitler.
:unsure:
What's the story with "Adolph Hitler"? I don't get the reference.
Whenever brain talks, I get these images in my head of a 70s sit-com with canned laughter and a woman going "Oh you" in a mock stern tone. I imagine she's in the middle of baking, because she's wearing an apron.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 22, 2011, 08:57:18 PM
Any chance you have any relations in eastern Alabama David P. Stokes?
I don't know of any relatives there, but sure, there's a chance.
Quote from: dps on April 23, 2011, 03:03:27 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 22, 2011, 08:57:18 PM
Any chance you have any relations in eastern Alabama David P. Stokes?
I don't know of any relatives there, but sure, there's a chance.
What about Missouri?
Quote from: The Brain on April 23, 2011, 02:05:09 AM
What's the story with "Adolph Hitler"? I don't get the reference.
A minor Austrian painter.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.solarnavigator.net%2Fhistory%2Fexplorers_history%2FAdolf_Hitler_watercolor_painting_artist.jpg&hash=491366d6b2415bacef9b6b9f23a5077afcf917f9)
It's a legitimate question. Where does the "ph" come from?
Quote from: The Brain on April 23, 2011, 10:08:21 AM
It's a legitimate question. Where does the "ph" come from?
Don't debase yourself that way, man. :P
Quote from: The Brain on April 23, 2011, 10:08:21 AM
It's a legitimate question. Where does the "ph" come from?
Some Danish chemist.
There're 2 or fewer people in the US named like me.... quite surprising considering there's about 100 or so people with this last name in Poland. :ph34r:
Quote from: Razgovory on April 23, 2011, 09:44:59 AM
Quote from: dps on April 23, 2011, 03:03:27 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 22, 2011, 08:57:18 PM
Any chance you have any relations in eastern Alabama David P. Stokes?
I don't know of any relatives there, but sure, there's a chance.
What about Missouri?
Again, none that I know of.