EU Approves Strict New Privacy Rules

An anonymous reader writes: The EU just approved a new set of strict rules governing privacy and data protection, which include a right to be forgotten and to "clear and affirmative consent" for any processing of private data, as well as the right to know when data has been compromised. Culminating more than four years of work, "The reform will replace the current data protection directive, dating back to 1995 when the internet was still in its infancy," the EU said in a statement, "with a general regulation designed to give citizens more control over their own private information in a digitized world of smartphones, social media, internet banking and global transfers." If the rules are broken, the new EU privacy policy includes hefty fines of up to 4% of a firm's total worldwide annual turnover.

Comments

Re:Right to be forgotten?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's hope you're not falsely accused of anything then. Rape, child molestation, murder, sexism, racism, the list goes on.

If any of these charges makes a headline, even it it's reported in a blog, it'll be one of the top results in google. Do you really think a potential employer is going to do some serious digging to find the actual truth once they see "abc drugged and raped xyz"? No way they'll move to the next just-as-qualified person.
Likewise if you're falsely accused of something to do with children, you move into a new neighborhood and one of the mothers googles your name and "xyz touched my child" comes up...you'll be fucking lynched. No ifs, buts or maybes.

Even if you DID commit a crime, PRISON is the punishment. Once you leave prison you have served your sentence and atoned for your sins.
Having that conviction follow you throughout your entire life simply by someone googling your name could ruin chances of employment, housing, friends, significant others and maybe lead to a further life of crime.

If public details of somebodies life are no longer relevant, eg time served, accusation repealed etc, then they shouldn't show up for the world to see, especially without context as i highly doubt many newspaper or blog articles are updated once the accused was found not guilty.

Unbelievable comments.

[Computershack]

I can't believe how many people, mostly Americans, think its bad that there is a law out there forcing companies to tell you what they intend to do with your personal data and if they have a breach where that data is compromised. They also seem to have a poor grasp of the right to be forgotten rule as well. Its not intended to hide stuff that politicians or corporations have done in the past but is instead there to protect private individuals from having irrelevant shit they did when they were young and stupid which no longer needs to see the light of day from being able to be found and used against them. Its there to protect those who were falsely accused from having to undergo further misery in their lives. And fuck you if you're too stupid to see that.