Is it possible to delete all data from the Internet?

The Dhaka Times Desk Is it possible to delete all data from the Internet? Such a question has come up. It has been said, 'In the future, everyone on the Internet will be anonymous, at least for 15 minutes.' Recently, such a comment was made by the famous artist Banksy.

The question is, in this age of the internet where people are desperate to post online about their personal relationships and where they are going on vacation, is it really possible for everyone to be anonymous even for a moment?

Critics have found this comment to make as much sense as Andy Warhol's 'fifteen minutes of fame' line.

In the 21st century it has become difficult to keep something secret - this issue brings that issue to the fore.

Professor Victor Mayer-Schoenberger of the Oxford Internet Institute said, “Nowadays we have many types of digital devices that contain many types of sensors. These sensors are capable of capturing a lot of information about us.”

But it is certainly an important point. According to a survey by CareerBuilder, a recruiting firm, 70 percent of companies in the United States used social media to select job candidates last year. 48% companies monitor the social media activities of their incumbents.

Various financial institutions also look into social media profiles while making lending decisions.

Already, a variety of companies analyze social media profiles to model consumers' buying habits and political ideology. Many times the help of artificial intelligence has also been taken in this case.

One way to avoid such a situation is to delete or delete your profile through social media. Many did this after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. In that incident, the Facebook information of 8.7 million people was secretly used for the benefit of political advertising.

One of the ways to delete personal information is though to delete social media accounts. However, this does little to remove information held by other companies. But fortunately, many countries around the world also have laws to help with this.

According to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there is a "right to be forgotten" – that is, an individual can have his or her personal data deleted if he or she chooses.

In the UK this is overseen by the Information Commissioner's Office. According to data provided to the BBC, last year there were 541 requests to remove all personal information from search engines. The number was 425 in the previous year and 303 in 2016-17.

However, the British Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) claims that the actual number is actually higher. The reason is that the list mentions those applications that were filed after objections to erasure.

ICO official Suzanne Gordon says it's not really possible to say clearly. "GDPR greatly strengthens the right to have that information deleted if someone feels that any information held by an organization about them is no longer useful."

“However this right is not really unconditional. The reason is that in many cases it has to be balanced whether it is against the rights and interests of others. An example is freedom of expression.”

The concept of “right to be forgotten” started to gain importance since 2014 and that is when data erasure requests started coming in large numbers. The first such petition was filed by a former politician who was seeking re-election and was accused of child sexual abuse. However, not all such applications are approved.

In this case, individuals or organizations who have money have done this work by hiring experts with their own help.

An entire industry has been created around this reputation defense or 'reputation defence'. There are many firms that offer various types of data erasure technology for a fee. For example, they also remove bad news from search engines.

One such organization, Defense Defender, was established in 2006. The company said it has at least 1 million customers, including wealthy individuals, professionals and CEOs. The company charges 5,000 pounds or 5,500 dollars for each package of services.

This company uses its own software to change the search results of its customers to Google search. As a result, there are less negative information and more positive information about those customers when searching on Google.

"This technology, by ranking websites in search results, focuses on the types of information that Google values," said Tony McChrystal, the company's general manager.

He added, "Generally, Google values two things, one is the credibility and authority of a web asset, and the other is how Google observes how users interact with information search results."

Professor Mae Schoenberger said, "Until all individuals and institutions using Internet services are forced to change the way they operate, it will not be possible to completely remove all personal information from the Internet."

"Until strong laws are enacted and enforced to establish consumers' right to say how their personal information is collected, exchanged and sold, the current privacy imbalance will never be addressed," he said. Source: BBC.