‘Right to be forgotten’ is unenforceable, says ICO

European officials want to incorporate such a right to give people the power to delete their data at any time, in revised data protection rules, proposals for which are due to be published at the end of January.

EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said recently that “users should be in control of their data”, a point the ICO agrees with. In a briefing document, the organisation says changes to the data protection framework should strengthen individual rights to object to and block processing of their personal information, and to have their data deleted.

But the ICO worries that a “stand-alone ‘right to be forgotten’ could mislead individuals and falsely raise their expectations, and be impossible to implement and enforce in practice”.

“There are implications for freedom of expression and questions as to how far individuals should be able [to] rewrite their own or others’ history,” the ICO said.

It is a view shared by UK culture minister Ed Vaizey, who told an audience of advertisers earlier this month: “We need to be clear about the practicalities of any regulation… No government can guarantee that photos shared with the world will be deleted by everyone when someone decides it’s time to forget that drunken night-out. We should not give people false expectations.”