New (California) law lets teens delete digital skeletons

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Remember that dance-party photo you regretted posting online? How about the time you over-shared your feelings about your ex or made that comment about Barack Obama? All forever etched in the annals of the Internet.

Well, maybe not - at least if you're under 18.

Legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday will require Web companies, starting in 2015, to remove online activity - whether it be scandalous or simply embarrassing - should a minor request it.

... The bill, authored by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, pushes lawmakers deeper into the dicey debate over online privacy. As social media soars in popularity and Web companies cull more and more information about people's lives, questions continue to be raised about what Internet firms should and should not be doing with the data.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/New-law-lets-teens-delete-digital-skeletons-4837309.php

[NoOneMan]

1. This seems strange in terms of jurisdiction

How can California enforce this upon a company operating in a different state (but available via the web in California)?

All in all, cool, but I don't see how this is feasible. Is the state going to legally pursue out of state web companies or does this only apply to the few located in the state?

[silverweb]

2. Good question.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]But I like the idea and hope they find a way.

[jmowreader]

3. How's that going to work?

Apparently these guys never heard of reposting.

[localroger]

4. Or offshore hosting

It's well meant but meaningless and unworkable. It is attempting to use the law to make the Internet something that it isn't.

[cstanleytech]

7. Exactly so clearly its a "feel good law" much like alot of the sex offender laws are imo.

[xfundy]

5. 2015? Why not NOW?

A lot of kids who are posting things they will eventually regret will be aged-out of this when it goes into effect.

I think everyone should have the ability to scrub their posts, etc. WTF? Everyone seems to be giving away their privacy via Facebook. Having worked in marketing, I know how valuable this info is to marketers -- to be able to construct a psychographic image of consumers is something I dreamed of in my youth, but then rethought as a massive invasion of privacy literally as scary as "Minority Report."

Corporations and political parties can now send messages targeted precisely to individuals and their hopes and fears, regardless of the veracity of their claims.

The goal is a borg mentality, all coaxed in for different reasons, yet all thinking/buying/voting based on BS.

[Swede Atlanta]

6. Why just minors....

We should all control "our data" and how the data is used. The use of our information, etc. should not be governed by a "tick the box" on a website with 25 pages of legal crap.

The time has come for people to stop participating in these sites. When they no longer have "eyes" their business will go to bankruptcy and be gone from us. Good riddance to Satan.

[SoapBox]

9. Ditto

[Swagman]

8. this is good law and just because it may be difficult to

implement it should not be criticised (unless you think laws against child porn etc are immaterial because they are difficult to enforce.)

[thefool_wa]

10. Why shouldnt the same thing be true for adults? n/t

[christx30]

11. And for their next trick,

they are going to decide to round pi to 3.0. And they are going to have about the same amount of success.

[kentauros]

14. And Eurler's number should be also rounded up to 3.0

It sure would make calculating logarithms easier in your head. Oh, and while we're at it, declare imaginary numbers as real, physical numbers. No sense in teaching math about things that cannot possibly exist!

[jakeXT]

20. 3.2

[Alamuti Lotus]

12. Nice-sounding idea; logistics seem (more than-) slightly ridiculous *nt

[TM99]

13. Impossible!

CA can not require out-of-state ISP's or websites to do such 'purges' of data. Not to mention the fact that most if not all of the Internet web pages are preserved on www.archive.org.

If this is allowed to stand, CA residents will see many companies avoiding this kind of 'purging of data' by simply not being available to them in that state.

And like others have said, why only children? Why can't adults have the same right?

It is always about 'protecting the children' yet the ideas are usually useless, political grand-standings that penalize adults who don't or would not 'harm' children or minors of any age.

[Sunlei]

15. can't do this for adults because websites like facebook have sold so much info. to gov. & others.

[snooper2]

16. LOL, that's going to work

[Arkana]

17. How exactly does the California legislature plan on enforcing this?

This is the Internet. It is all-knowing, all seeing, and it does not understand pleading, mercy, or excuses. It cannot be bought and it cannot be coerced--and once something is on the Internet, it will be there FOREVER.

[Dr. Strange]

18. Questionable idea.

Couldn't it be used against Holloway's site?
http://helpmesave300.com/

Or the public shaming tumblr?
http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/

[Prometheus Perez]

19. makes sense

A second chance is desirable.