Two thirds of UK web users believe humans have a 'right to be forgotten'
Poll by Ipsos MORI and TrustE also suggests that many believe the delinking of search results increases censorship
Almost two thirds of British people believe the 'Right to be Forgotten' online should be a human right.
The European Union's 'Right to be Forgotten' ruling allows EU citizens to request that search engines such as Google remove search result links to websites when they deem the information to be "inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant or excessive".
According to a survey carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of data privacy management firm TRUSTe, 64 per cent of British internet users believe that the 'Right to be Forgotten' should be a human right. A slightly higher figure of 68 per cent of survey respondents said they believe the 'Right to be Forgotten' allows users to enhance protection of their personal data.
In May this year, Google's transparency report revealed that it had already delinked almost a million URLs under the legislation. Requests to be forgotten come for a variety of reasons, but there are some instances where those convicted of crimes have asked Google to remove links to search results detailing information about their criminal behaviour.
For example, the transparency report stated "A teacher [in Germany] convicted for a minor crime over 10 years ago asked us to remove an article about the conviction. We have removed the pages from search results for the individual's name".
The fact that this information is being removed from search results might therefore explain why the TRUSTe survey found that 44 per cent of British web users believe the so-called 'Right to be Forgotten' legislation allows for censorship.
Some states in the US are also considering legislation similar to the Right to be Forgotten, while California has operated an 'erase button' law since May.
This law requires that websites allow people under the age of 18 to remove their own postings on that website, and clearly explain how to do so. However, most Americans have yet to be convinced by such legislation.
"Even though Europeans are known for placing a great deal of value on their privacy, our research shows that British internet users are actually more sceptical about Right to be Forgotten legislation than Americans, with 44 per cent agreeing that it allows for censorship compared with 29 per cent of Americans," said Chris Babel, CEO of TRUSTe.
"The Right to be Forgotten ruling gives EU citizens greater control of their online identities. Perhaps most significantly though, the ruling presents challenges for internet publishers and search engines who have the difficult job of allocating significant resources to support the large number of incoming requests," he added.