ABSTRACT
This article challenges the notion that the right to be forgotten is in direct opposition to the American values of free expression and the public’s right to know by arguing that such a right has roots in American moral culture as well as jurisprudence in the right to rehabilitation, and ultimately, suggests adopting a form of the right to privacy in the US. Part I reviews the origins of the European right to be forgotten, focusing on the Google Spain decision and relevant articles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Part II argues that the US has long supported a rehabilitative notion of privacy, which provides sturdy ground on which the right to be forgotten could stand in the US. Part III addresses First Amendment criticisms of the right. Part IV assesses how the right to be forgotten might be operationalized in the US. This article concludes with a discussion of the moral benefits of a right to be forgotten, particularly in how a more forgiving society can in fact increase speech and democratic participation.
Holcomb, Lindsay, The Moral Case for Adopting a US Right to be Forgotten (May 20, 2021). Journal of Law and Technology at Texas 151 (2021).
First posted 2021-05-26 12:30:27
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