Right for wrongful convictions to be wiped is a case-by-case battle

The Royal Court’s ruling has widespread implications for digital rights and the kind of information that springs up when people first Google our names.

In the four years since the European Court of Justice ruling, Google says it has removed links to more than 800,000 pages where information is deemed outdated, damaging or no longer relevant.

While some of these are likely to be celebrities and politicians looking to obscure their embarrassing pasts, many will be from ordinary members of the public, who may, for example, have been wrongfully convicted of a crime. They may also have a spent conviction,

“The ruling highlights the mitigating factors that must be taken in consideration”

which means after a certain amount of time has passed the offender is no longer required to disclose the offence by law.

While everyone is entitled to digital privacy, the ruling highlights the mitigating factors that must be taken in consideration before links can be erased. In the words of Mr Justice Warby, neither of these men were “asking to be forgotten”. The first aspect of their claims asserts a right not to be remembered inaccurately.

NT2 was deemed worthy of a clean digital slate; NT1’S lack of remorse means his past will continue to haunt him. Expect to see many more cases of this nature appear before the courts in the future. Whether they’re granted the right to be forgotten or not, is another story.