1. The “right to be forgotten”
Prepared by
William A. Nyikuli
June [28], 2013
An overview of Europe‟s new data protection initiatives

2. “…..the reform will give individuals better control over their
own data. I will include easier access to one‟s own data in
the new rules. People must be able to easily take their
data to another provider or have it deleted if they no longer
want it to be used.”
Viviane Redding, EU Commissioner, January 22, 2012

3. COM (2012) 9
• January 25, 2012 official EU communication and report.
• Goals: Individuals in control of their personal data and
strengthening national authorities.
• Action areas: Data breaches, consistent EU
enforcement (single market), law enforcement and
binding corporate rules.

4. Context
• Philosophy: “American” privacy vs. “European” privacy.
• Policy framework (communication policy model):
Liberal-Market vs. Public Service/Interest

5. Recommendations
• Capitalize on the transatlantic „special relationship‟.

6. Recommendation (continued)
• Have European history and identity in mind.
• Know that Europe needs to keep ahead of emerging
markets.
• View Europe as „one country‟ (UK?)

7. Recommendation (continued)
• Emphasize on speech rights, rather than regulation.

8. Summary
• „Right to be forgotten‟ to become law in 2014.
• Legislation will be binding for US-based corporations.
• Remember supranational trumps national for EU.
• Push for a free speech and „open internet‟ debate.

9. Conclusion and Implications
• “Why Google could start a trade war over Europe‟s
privacy rules” USA Today, March 22, 2013
• “France Proposes an Internet Tax” New York Times,
January 20, 2013
• “NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple,
Google and others” The Guardian, June 6, 2013

10. Further Reading
Blog: http://wanyikuli.wordpress.com
Policy Brief: [………..]
E-Mail: WANyikuli@gmail.com
Thank you.