Australia considers 'Right to Be Forgotten' as a step toward better digital privacy

Australians have less control over their privacy compared to their European peers regarding laws that protect them. After massive data breaches, the Albanese government plans to update the Privacy Act and align it to the realities of the digital age.

One of the changes is introducing the 'right to be forgotten,' similar to the European one. Also known as the right to erasure, the GDPR gives European individuals the right to ask organizations to delete their personal data under specific circumstances.

The Australian version, however, is for the time being, specifically targeting (and restricted to) online search results, empowering individuals to request search engines to de-index certain links containing personal information. This includes outdated, inaccurate, or irrelevant information that may be harmful or distressing, such as medical history or information about children.

Google's chief privacy officer reacted and said that the law would be more effective if it targeted publishers of that content and the websites that host information instead of the search engines that make it easy to find. He stated, "even if it is suppressed from a search engine, that content still exists on the internet elsewhere".

Based on data from Google's European transparency report, the Privacy Act review estimates Google likely received about 58,000 requests from Australians to de-list about 250,000 results between 2014 and 2022.

What does the Internet know about you? Find out now!

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