Remembrance Day 2018

All of us use the internet. If you’re reading this article the chance is pretty good that you’re using the internet, considering this is an online newspaper. We all like to scroll through instagram and look at what our friends have been up to. Sometimes you’ll even google your own name, and sometimes there’ll be an embarrassing picture or some piece of personal information you didn’t really want the world to know staring back at you. Can you do anything about this? Is it your right to have this taken down?

The easy answer to both of these questions is not really. As of this moment the “right to be forgotten”, as it’s often called, does not exist in Canadian law. The right to be forgotten is the idea that you should have the right to take down any irrelevant or personal information about you that shouldn’t be public from the internet, more specifically, search engines like Google. Many consider this to be a good idea as they feel that it’s not fair for private information to haunt you online and be public for anyone. However, we don’t have that right in Canada - yet.

Recently the Federal Privacy Commissioner, Daniel Therrien, asked the courts to make a ruling on this issue. If the courts decide that you have this right, there are a few things that will happen. Companies like Google will likely be fielding requests to have things taken down immediately after the decision. Parliament may also have to make decisions regarding the process of taking down information and will have to decide what companies will be required to do.

Another right that you have online, as well as offline, is the right to free speech providing it isn’t hate speech or some other illegal act. However, social media sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have the right to take down any posts you make on their platform because they are companies and can display what they wish on their platform. Basically, that means that you have the right to not be arrested for what you choose to post on social media but companies can take your posts down. A small number of people have been pushing to make it illegal for these social media companies to take down posts without some sort of court proceeding, but that idea doesn’t have a lot of traction as of right now.

The fact is that the way we use the internet changes all the time, and it’s nearly impossible for the government to keep their rules and regulations up with all of the advancements that happen everyday. That’s why it’s so important that you understand how free speech and privacy work on the internet. I would encourage anyone who would like to know more to visit the website of the CRTC (https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/internet/) and the Federal Privacy Commissioner (https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/technology-and-privacy/online-privacy/).

Be safe out there on the web, and keep one eye on the news at all times.