EU: ENISA Report on the "Right to be Forgotten - Between Expectations and Practice"

On 20 November 2012, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) published its report "The Right to be Forgotten - Between Expectations and Practice" authored by Peter Druschel, Michael Backes and Rodica Tirtea. The Report aims to cover the technical means to enforce or support "the right to be forgotten" in information systems and explores its obstacles and limitations.

The right to be forgotten is included in the proposed regulation on data protection published by the European Commission in January 2012. The regulation is still to be adopted by the European Parliament for entering into force. The different legal aspects of the right to be forgotten (i.e. right to erasure or right to oblivion) have been debated in different contexts and are beyond the scope of this Report.

The Report aims to cover other facets of the right to be forgotten and focusses on the technical means to enforce or support the right in information systems. The Report shows that there are technical limitations and there is a further need for clear definitions and legal clarifications.

ENISA Report "The Right to be Forgotten - Between Experience and Practice" of 20 November 2012 by Peter Druschel/ Michael Backes/ Rodica Tirtea