Ctrl + Z : the right to be forgotten /

The internet never forgets. Despite technical limitations of "link rot" and "data degradation," the collective memory of the Internet has a remarkable way of maintaining information that once published can remain forever tied to an individual. Yet freedom of speech comes into conflict with privacy and personal reputation when one considers solutions such as a proposed "right to be forgotten." Jones (communication, culture, and technology, Georgetown Univ.) objectively and methodically examines the legal and cultural complexities involved, contrasting US practice and history with that of Europe. Though portions of the book--those covering what may be unfamiliar court cases and law--will seem dense, in these the author is laying the foundation for an approachable conversation on a very complex subject. The importance of digital information stewardship becomes clear: the solution is not simple and depends greatly on local cultural norms and legal history. This book makes an important contribution to the conversation around online privacy, and provides a review of legal issues both domestic and international. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --Jonathan M. Smith, Sonoma State University

This survey of the legal and policy landscape around the "right to be forgotten" in the digital age reads as a painful reminder of why law's that were developed before the invention of photography and sound recording fall short when we consider dignity and privacy today. In his 2009 book "Delete," Viktor Mayer-Schönberger warned that digital networks could "forever tether us to all our past actions, making it impossible, in practice, to escape them." Jones reminds us that this tether is not automatic but a "structure of discoverability" that can be altered. For example, in 2014, Europe's highest court ruled that individuals could ask Google to have negative information removed or "delisted" from search results. What we need, Jones argues, is not complete erasure but "digital redemption," as in the way American bankruptcy laws allow people in debt to start over. Applied to our digital lives, such measures would keep us from being eternally haunted by an embarrassing photograph or ill-advised tweet. The book leaves us wanting more in the way of suggested regulations, but by laying out the terrain so thoughtfully, and highlighting the concepts that should guide our actions, Jones has created the groundwork for a much needed conversation on the profound problem of permanent digital ballasts in the 21st century.